


Apart

by KakumeiNoHi



Series: The Stories of Winter and her Partner [10]
Category: RWBY
Genre: Atlas Academy, Canon Universe, F/F, RWBY - Freeform, a bit of the oc's background story, atlas head canons, rwby canon universe, schnee manor, younger schneeblings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-29
Updated: 2020-11-20
Packaged: 2021-03-08 17:48:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 24,996
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27270712
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KakumeiNoHi/pseuds/KakumeiNoHi
Summary: Winter had entered their room to find a bunch of weapon parts spread all over most of the floor.A week of compulsory holidays was coming up and starting tomorrow the academy was giving its students a small break. Most of them used that time to return to their homes, quite a few however still remained at Atlas Academy. Especially those who originally came from one of the other kingdoms considered the traveling for such a relatively short amount of time simply too much of a hassle.Being from Mistral Winter's partner was one of those students who stayed. She was planning to use this time to completely take apart, clean and readjust her weapon.As for Winter...She put the books she had borrowed inside of her suitcase and closed it up. Her hand remained on the lid. Schnee Manor wasn't too close to Atlas Academy, but it also definitely wasn't far away enough for her to justify staying at the academy for the upcoming week. She was sure that she still could have made up some kind of excuse, but it was a holiday after all and more than anything she wanted to at least return for the sake of her younger siblings and mother. She certainly wasn't looking forward to whatever pompous dinner party Jacques was planing...
Relationships: Jacques Schnee & Winter Schnee, James Ironwood & Winter Schnee, Weiss Schnee & Whitley Schnee & Winter Schnee, Weiss Schnee & Winter Schnee, Whitley Schnee & Winter Schnee, Willow Schnee & Winter Schnee, Winter Schnee & Klein Sieben, Winter Schnee/Original Female Character(s)
Series: The Stories of Winter and her Partner [10]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1914799
Comments: 24
Kudos: 25





	1. Chapter 1

Winter had entered their room to find a bunch of weapon parts spread all over most of the floor.

A week of compulsory holidays was coming up and starting tomorrow the academy was giving its students a small break. Most of them used that time to return to their homes, quite a few however still remained at Atlas Academy. Especially those who originally came from one of the other kingdoms considered the traveling for such a relatively short amount of time simply too much of a hassle.

Being from Mistral Winter's partner was one of those students who stayed. She was planning to use this time to completely take apart, clean and readjust her weapon. Over the past few months of training at the academy she had become quicker and nimbler in fights. Her improvement was mostly thanks to having a training partner like Winter who was a lot more agile than she had been and with that in mind she was now doing her weapon's maintenance, before eventually ordering a complete overhaul over the academy's facilities.

Winter was often astonished about how lucky their pairing up had been regarding their fighting styles. Especially during their self-directed sparring lessons, when they had the training room for themselves, both of them had greatly profited from being almost polar opposites in fighting.

\-------------

In fights Winter usually relied on speedy attacks, clever dodges and glyph boosts. She had also since been able to add summoning distractions to her arsenal. Fighting like this however meant that she wasn't really used to bracing herself and concentrating her aura when getting hit. Using her semblance all the time also meant that she would run out of aura very quickly. When it came down to it she was basically a rapid fire glass cannon. Such being the case Winter would always attack fast and first.

Compared to Winter her partner's fighting style was a lot less short-fused. Cassie wasn't as fast as Winter but her defense was nonetheless almost impeccable.  
When she wasn't firing shots from afar, Winter's partner used her halberd for wide hard-hitting sweeps, swings and stabs. The precision of her shots and the sheer length and reach of her melee weapon easily allowed her to keep her enemies at a safe distance. There was a lot of strength in her blows since she was very skilled at boosting them with her aura, which she had a lot of.  
All it took however was one mistake for Winter to break through and get close enough to force her partner to switch to her bladed tonfas. It was only dual-wielding at close range that her lack of speed showed and that she would have to use her semblance to dodge. That’s when Winter would have the clear upper hand and overwhelm her.

With her usual iron defense however, Cassie who was able to sense aura so well, only had to bide her time blocking and keeping Winter at a distance. If Winter hadn't broken through before her aura started to run low, it only took a single strong counterattack to send her flying and completely reduce it to zero.  
As far as she herself was concerned Winter would have simply continued fighting nonetheless. She hated to admit it, but Jacques throwing overwhelming waves of Grimm at her had given her an incredible amount of tenacity. She also had no fear left in her and it allowed her to continue fighting even with zero aura.  
It was Cassie however who, even though she never pulled any punches and hit hard, very hard, always insisted on immediately stopping to rest and check on her every time Winter went down to zero.

Being challenged by somebody on equal terms and without the intention of breaking her was new to Winter. And she soon noticed how training at the academy with her peers and especially with her partner was not only very different but also much more efficient than what she had been going through so far.  
Here, as long as she never doubted herself and paid attention to helpful instructions from the teachers, she was both free and even encouraged to improve steadily.

What's more her partner's strikes hurt badly enough for Winter to get over her pride and allow somebody her age to instruct her on blocks, more grounded stances and on how to draw on her aura more efficiently. Something her partner was not only good at but also teaching her patiently and without any form of judgement.  
Winter learned that if she wanted to properly hone her skills, they had to train together and listening to somebody with a fresh outside perspective on her abilities and technique proved to be immensely helpful.  
Rather than continuing to rely on her own judgement when it came to checking and perfecting her forms, she had needed someone candid and active in combat by her side to be able to suggest improvements and different approaches to her grandfather's descriptions and teachings.  
Soon enough Winter was not only able to take quite a few more hits a lot more safely, but she was also able to stretch her aura enough to summon an entire pack of Beowolves without breaking a sweat.

In return for helping her evolve, Winter put her partner through all kinds of motions and exercises to increase her speed and flexibly. Winter had the structure her partner lacked and so she trained the basics of her own forms into her and together they adjusted them to her partner's weapon and fighting style.

The later part of their training sessions always included combo training. The more accustomed they grew to each other the better they were at predicting each others movements and they figured out the best ways to incorporate each other’s semblances in a fight. Some time at the very beginning they had decided to always leave that combined part of their training for last, mostly because it could easily sour both of their moods and therefore ruin their entire remaining training session.

Winter couldn't count the amount of times she had slipped off her partner's weapon, because Cassie misjudged her weight or the amount of times she had been grabbed in the middle of launching an attack and re-materialized to somewhere else because her partner thought Winter was going for a flank. The nausea she would get from being pulled by her partner's semblance alone would throw her off completely.  
Not to mention the times Winter herself had accidentally launched her unprepared partner midair into walls or into the ground, because _she_ misinterpreted _her_ intent or the amounts of times Winter dropped her because she didn't realize that she had been relying on a glyph to appear for her to propel from or her Manticore to catch her.  
While they never really held any long grudges, mostly because they would both mess up equally enough, many of their sessions had ended with them sulking at and being irritated by each other.

Both of them were used to only ever fighting alone. Actively fighting not just side by side but _together_ with somebody else, was something they just never had to pay any attention to.  
At some point Winter had wondered about how they had fought together so seamlessly during their initiation. Cassie suggested it was probably because they were basically ambushed, completely surrounded within less than a minute and running on instinct. They didn't really have the time to think about it too hard. Knowing that however still hadn't really made things easier.

Strangely enough it took something as simple as starting to cook together for them to realize what they were lacking. Unsure about what they were doing while preparing meals, they had spend a lot of time discussing what they were about to do and verbally checking in with each other. It allowed them to easily work together without any big incidents.  
And once they had finally realized how they should be applying the same kind of logic to their combat, it didn't take them long to decide on a basic way of communicating during their training. They started having specific call-outs only they would understand and soon enough fighting together had become a lot smoother.

Several weeks after they had fallen into a perfect rhythm. Winter would no longer need a call-out to know when to summon a glyph to support her partner and Cassie was able to blindly trust for a glyph to be where she needed one.  
At the same time Cassie would know when to split to Winter’s side with her semblance or extend and hold her reach for Winter to use her weapon as a stepping stool or to actually throw Winter to where she wanted to go. She had also become so used to Winter that using her semblance on her was draining her a significant lesser amount. And while it had been disorienting at first Winter was also slowly getting used to the sensation and no longer hazy or feeling sick afterwards.

Slowly but surely they had build a level of trust that allowed them to almost move as one. It was also during those self-reliant training sessions that Winter had first noticed how serious her partner was about becoming a Huntress.  
As whimsical and casual as she may usually behave, in training she was hard and dangerously focused. Never out of control however.  
Especially every time they were out on small missions or field trips and actually fighting Grimm, Winter could see the exact moment the look in her eyes changed and the switch flipped. And while she had been curious, Winter had never asked Cassie about her motivations to come to Atlas Academy and becoming a Huntress, mostly because she herself hadn’t been ready to talk about hers in case she was asked the same question back.

\-------------

When Winter had left for the library earlier her partner had asked her if she was okay with her starting her weapon maintenance already. The parts might end up using the whole floor of their double room and she didn't want to be in the way in case Winter still needed to do something in here.  
Winter however hadn't minded and as such she was now carefully maneuvering herself over weapons parts all the way to their shared closet to where her small open suitcase was lying.  
She put the books she had borrowed inside and closed it up. Her hand remained on the lid. At least as far as packing was concerned she was ready.

Schnee Manor wasn't too close to Atlas Academy, but it also definitely wasn't far away enough for her to justify staying at the academy for the upcoming week. She was sure that she still could have made up some kind of excuse, but it was a holiday after all and more than anything she wanted to at least return for the sake of her younger siblings and mother.  
She certainly wasn't looking forward to whatever pompous dinner party Jacques was planing...

Winter turned around to watch her partner work. Her sleeves were rolled up, she was in her academy sweatpants and wearing a gray bandanna like a headband to keep her hair from obstructing her view and so that her ears remained free. She was sitting on the floor cross-legged and surrounded by weapon parts which seemed to be arranged by some kind of logic, even though Winter failed to see it.

“Your back is going to kill you if you stay like that, you know that, right?”

“Eh, I'll live. It's alright. I'll still be young and beautiful afterwards.”

With an exaggerated move Cassie lifted her arm to run her hand through her hair and over one of her ears and throw a flirty wink at Winter. Somehow Winter had to giggle a little. Strange, since she would normally just roll her eyes at her melodramatic plays. Cassie chuckled and continued.

”Also, it's not like I have much of a choice. If I do this here instead of one of the academy rooms, I can take my time and do it in peace. And I don’t have to worry about others who might want to use the weapon facilities.”

“I've been wondering for a while now...what's with that weapon choice anyways? A halberd is quite heavy and mid-ranged melee weapons are usually hard to handle...”

Winter suddenly panicked, after all the training they had been doing together she didn't want her partner to think that she was somehow doubting her ability and combat skills.

“N-not that you aren't good with it and you've become even faster, so you're actually very good at fighting with it, especially compared to others that I have seen, not that I've seen many, that doesn't mean that I don't have anyone to compare you to, though you can't be compared to others...”

Winter felt like she was only digging herself in deeper and deeper the more she talked. Why was she rambling so much anyway? It wasn't like her to loose her composure like this and why was she complimenting her so much? It seemed like having to return to the manor was effecting her more than she thought. Her partner only giggled and waited for her to finish.

Winter took a breath. “ _Why not just stick to the tonfas and guns_ is what I wanted to say, with your strength wouldn't it be more effective if you perfected those, since they are lighter? That's what I wanted to know actually.”

“Well, you have a point. Still....” She had stopped disassembling a part of her weapon and was rubbing the back of her head.

“Do you really want to know why I use a halberd? It's a bit childish though...”

Winter noticed her ears twitch. It looked like they were about to lower and her partner was forcing herself to perk them back up.  
Winter had no way of relating to how it was like to have wolf ears or anything alike. But she had been around her partner long enough to know that her ears very much reflected her current emotions. She may exaggerate some of them to put on a show, but there was never anything _truly_ insincere about her.  
Which also meant that in general she was really bad at hiding her true feelings, even when she tried.

Her weapon seemed to be a touchy subject and important and while Winter didn't want to pry open what could possibly be an old wound, she also wanted to learn more about her partner. Still she wanted to try and take a risk. Winter made her way to the beds, trying to gather her courage and sat down on the lower bunk to look right into her partner's emerald eyes.

“If it’s okay with you...please tell me. I want to know more.”

Cassie lowered her eyes, Winter's confident partner suddenly turned timid.

“Sure.” As if to keep her hands simply occupied she started to move the tool in her hands once more.

“My father was a Huntsman. His weapon was a battle axe. It used to be as tall as me and I used to imagine myself going on adventures with him.  
I used to watch him train and get into so much trouble whenever I would sneak around to the backyard to try and lift his axe to copy him.”

Winter chuckled. “That does sound like something reckless you would do though.”

“Hey, I was a kid, okay? And to be fair Mom would yell at both me and my dad.  
She’d yell at me for trying to play with a dangerous weapon and Dad for just leaving it around unsecured like that to begin with. It was always funny to watch a giant man like him lower his ears and getting yelled at by my mom who was less than half his size.”

She laughed softly but her own ears were slightly lowered as well. She looked...sad?

Winter was wondering. Her partner seemed to have been close to her father, which is why she modeled her weapon after his. She didn't really know why, but she was surprised to hear that.  
Then again everybody has been to some extend inspired by somebody around them in their weapon or fighting. Winter herself wasn't any different, in her case however it was her grandfather whose entire semblance she even inherited. She also remembered how her partner had mentioned her mother once before. According to Cassie she was just as sensitive to aura as Cassie herself and she was the one who had taught her how to focus her ability better.  
Winter suddenly remembered how she herself also shared an ability with her mother. It was her mother after all who she had directly inherited the Schnee semblance from.  
She lowered her head and realized how her partner's experiences were something that she couldn't relate to. Maybe this was why she had been surprised by her partner's earlier response.  
Sadly, nurturing relationships with one's parents like that were something that never occurred to her...she looked to the side.  
She couldn’t even imagine herself ever talking about her father the same way her partner spoke about hers. She was trying to recall her words, when Winter noticed something and her heart sank…

“...you said he _was_ a Huntsman?”

“He...was, yeah...I...lost my parents when I was little. Grimm attack. They almost decimated the entire village.”

Winter looked down. She wanted to console her partner, but she didn't know what to do. She realized however how what had happened must be the cause of her partner's nightmares.  
Something Winter had never known how to bring up, especially since she usually only ever noticed them on nights she herself had trouble sleeping in and was pacing in their room at night...

In the end she decided to simply be honest. “I don’t know what to say.”

“That’s okay.” Her partner smiled softly. ”I’d rather you say nothing than hit me with all of those empty and cliched words of comfort.”

“O-okay.” Winter was surprised at her response. And after hearing her story, she was also amazed at how good-natured her partner still was.

“I’ve had about ten years and a lot of support since and that helped me work through most of what happened, so I’m okay, really.”  
She continued to smile at her and while what she said seemed to be true for the most part, Winter knew that she was still suffering every once in a while.

Winter lowered her head. She was comparing her partner to herself. Even after what she had been through, her partner had warmth and kindness to her. Unlike Winter who, to deal with her own problems, had hardened and closed herself off, so she could get stronger and take her fate into her own hands. She realized how different they were and Winter felt like she had just been kicked to the ground.

“Win-ter!”

Winter backed her head up immediately and instinctively jumped backwards up on her bed, when only her partner's face appeared so close in front of hers that their noses almost touched. She almost had a heart attack.

Cassie’s face had disappeared again and furious, Winter grabbed her pillow and threw it to where she saw the rest of her partner’s body still sitting.

“Don’t EVER do that again.”

She heard her partner laugh as her disembodied entire head appeared again, this time looking at her from the side and at some distance. Her head disappeared again only to return back to her body and Winter's pillow was thrown back at her and into her hands.

“But you’re so cute when you’re scared.” She winked and blew a kiss at her.

Winter groaned and rolled her eyes.

“Why are you like this?”

“Charming?”

“Annoying. And I wasn’t scared.”

Cassie chuckled. “Of course not.”

Winter sighed. Her partner was an annoying and shameless flirt. How could she forget? Why was she even worrying about her? Actually...now that she thought about it...she really didn’t have worry this much, but instead she could…

“Cass...you said you already have people who support you...but maybe...if it’s okay, I’m.. I want…” Winter took a deep breath. “I’m here for you too, you know?”

Her partner looked up in slight surprise at first but then turned her head to the side. “I see.” She smiled timidly.

“So, you can come to me if you ever want to talk about something or even if you’re having nightmares or something like that.” Was she being too obvious? Did her partner realize that she knew?

Cassie looked at her for what seemed like an eternity, but then she only laughed softly. “Then I’ll be in your care from now on.”

Winter perked up. “Yes.” She nodded shortly. She felt a little closer to her partner and she wanted to keep the conversation going.

“So, the people who support you...were they relatives then?”

Her partner shook her head.

“First I was found and taken to a hospital. For the longest time they didn’t know what to do with me. My father was an only child and his parents had passed away before I was born.  
And I never knew my mother’s side of the family, they had disowned her when she married a Faunus. And they certainly weren’t going to claim me.”

“So, your mom was a human then? And your father had ears you said, so he was a Faunus.”

“Yes...do you think that’s strange?” She looked at her intently.

Winter didn’t reply immediately. Her partner watched her attentively. She had never given that kind of thing much thought before.  
But now that she did, she could imagine how some people, especially older generations, might be opposed to relationships between humans and Faunus. She spoke.

“No, I don’t think so.” Her partner's ears perked up. “But I suppose some people would have a problem with it.” Jacques suddenly came to mind and Winter’s eyes narrowed.

“Yeah, that is the reality of world we live in after all. Especially Mistral is overflowing with bigotry when it comes to anything Faunus-related. Still my mother broke away from her family to be with my father.”

“I think she must have been a strong person to pursue her wishes like that…”

Winter lowered her head. After all she too had to become strong to get as far as she had and she had to become even stronger if she wanted to properly take her life into her own hands and completely distance herself from the family name.

She heard her partner laugh quietly. “I think so too.”

“When we first met you said you had your mother’s aura sensitivity, right?”

“That and her eyes. I was always told that I have my mother’s eyes, even though I take after my dad in everything else other than size.”

Winter perked up a little. “You’re the same as me then.”

“Same as you?” Her partner tilted her head at her.

Winter lowered her head again and looked to the side.

“My hair is truly white like any Schnee’s, other than that I take after my father. My face, skin, my eyebrows are the same color his used be and even the white of my hair is the same shade his turned into. But my eyes...they are my mother’s…”

“We really are the same in a way then.” her partner laughed quietly. _Except your parents loved you_ was a thought that crossed Winter's mind.

She wasn’t jealous and she had grown tired of feeling sorry for herself a long time ago, still whenever she heard about others having loving and caring parents she couldn't help but feel wishful.  
Something must have shown on her face, because her partner started to look at her intently, while Winter herself was trying to avoid looking at her. Cassie's expression however changed to a cheerful one quickly.

“You know what though? I bet your father isn’t as pretty as you.”

She winked at her and Winter cracked up slightly. It was a short and tired laugh, but she was grateful. Grateful for her partner trying to cheer her up instead of trying to open up wounds that are still healing.

“So your mother’s side...nobody ever came?...are they...still alive? Do you know?

“I know. I was easily identified after all. And they are. But that’s the end of it really. I never knew them and Mom never really spoke of them, so I don’t have any particular feelings about them.” She shrugged.

“I...I see...wait, how were you 'easily' identified?”

She tapped one of her wolf ears and smiled cheekily. “There’s a chip in one of my ears.”

Winter was stunned. “Really?”

She had never heard of that being something Faunus or anybody would do. Winter furrowed her brow and narrowed her eyes in suspicion. She wasn’t just messing with her, was she?

Cassie laughed out loud. “Don’t look at me like that. I’m not messing with you.”

She stood up. She stretched her back and carefully stepped around the weapon parts. While they had been talking, more and more parts had been spreading over their entire floor, with her partner’s hands constantly moving and dis- and reappearing to place them around their room.

Cassie walked towards Winter, who was still sitting on her bed legs up with her knees to the side.

Her partner put one of her hands on the bed next to Winter’s knees and lowered her head, with her other hand she took Winter’s. She placed her fingers on the inner side of her right ear.

“See? Right here.”

She let go of Winter’s hand and pressing her ear gently in between her thumb and index finger Winter could feel what seemed to be indeed a tiny cylindrical chip.

“It’s really just secured data stick, when it comes down to it. It can be scanned and read but you can’t really add or delete any of the data on it.  
It has my name and my parents' names on it. There’s also data on my father’s parents and grandparents and ironically enough the entire family tree of my mother’s side several generations in.  
It also shows up on medical scans.”

Winter suddenly noticed how she had been drawing small gentle circles inside of her partner’s ear while she was listening and she immediately let go. Her ear had been so warm and soft that her thumb had started moving on its own. Her partner sat down next to her and crossed her legs on top of the bed.

“Several generations? And what about the rest of your father’s side? Why would you need a chip like that?” Questions poured out of Winter.

“I’m not entirely sure, I only remember being told by my mom that it’s just in case something happens to both of them, my dad for once was a Huntsman after all….and no, it’s not a tracking device.”

Winter who had just opened her mouth, closed it again. She looked to the side and blushed a little. Cassie chuckled.

“Don’t worry about it. I also had the same idea a few years back and had a friend run some tests, just in case.”

“Well, that’s good then.” Winter cleared her throat.

“Still it was enough for the hospital to notify my mother’s relatives about me, but like I said no one ever came…” She sounded scoffing and bitter.

Winter looked to the side and put her hand around her own arm. “Because you’re a Faunus?”

“Probably, but who knows.” She shrugged. ”I really know nothing about these people, other than the name.”

“Still, you were child...”

“Not a human one though.” She shrugged again and sighed.

”I don’t mind really. Because of that I have met the person who took me in and treated my like I was her own, even though she was a human herself. She was an old lady that would walk by my room every day. One day she actually walked in and started to talk to me. Every once in a while she would sneak in some sweets for me. She’d ask me to not tell the nurses about it. It was our secret.” Her partner smiled gently.

Winter laughed softly. “Sounds to me like she was bribing you with candy.”

“She probably was.“ Cassie chuckled. ”But if it wasn’t for her I don’t know what would have happened to me.”

“Nonetheless, I don’t think there are many people out there who would be this kind.”

“It’s sad but true. Grandma also told me that she had been visiting her husband at the hospital everyday.  
She would always see me looking out of the window and when she heard that no one ever came to visit she had started to come by my room afterwards. When he passed away she asked me if I wanted to leave the hospital and come live with her.”

Her partner got up from the bed. For a second Winter had the urge to reach out and grab her, so she wouldn't leave. Surprised at herself Winter shook her head quickly as Cassie’s back was facing her and she watched her partner sit back down on the floor to resume her work. Winter looked at her pillow.

“Hey, at least sit down on this.” She took her pillow and threw it towards her partner. “You can get me a new one before I get back.”

Confused her partner had looked at first the pillow and then Winter. Embarrassed, Winter was avoiding her gaze. She heard her partner chuckle.

“Alright then. Thanks.” She shuffled around and sat down on the pillow.

“What about you, Winter? You mentioned your parents already…any siblings?”

Winter was quiet for a bit, but then she answered.

“Yes. A younger sister and a little brother. Weiss and Whitley.”

Her parent's eyes lit up. “So there’s three of you? And all three of you are sharing the same semblance, right?”

Seeing her partner getting exited about her siblings made Winter chuckle.

“Yes, although only my sister had started combat training so far.”

“Your brother didn’t?”

“He’s...still quite young.” Winter simply answered.

And while this was true, she also had a feeling that Whitley wasn’t the type for anything more than basic defense training. Which wasn’t to say that she thought him weak, but rather she knew how Whitley in his very nature was a rather sweet and gentle. Much more so than Winter herself or even Weiss.

Still the moment he would be old enough to safely hold a weapon she was going to offer him training, just like she had done with her sister.  
Winter only feared that by the time he would be ready, Jacques would have influenced and scared him so much of both his oldest sister and combat training for Whitley to end up declining her offer.

“I see. Since I haven’t even seen anyone who could be your sister around here at the academy yet, I guess your brother would be quite a bit younger than you.”

“Yes. You said you were an only child, right?”

“Yeah, although I have _acquired_ an older brother later in life.” She chuckled.

Winter was puzzled. “How so?”

“Well, when I had first moved into my grandma’s home some of the people in the small village nearby didn’t really take kindly to a Faunus child playing together with their children.  
The kids themselves didn’t care at first, but the more they got scolded by their parents, the crueler they started to behave towards me who had been the reason for their punishments.  
One day it got really bad, but that’s also when the baker’s son had been running an errand and walking by.  
He jumped in front of me like a big hero and beat the bullies to a pulp. Afterwards the human boy who was only two years older than me had proudly declared himself my older brother Tomi from now on.”

She giggled and Winter saw her partner's face soften with nostalgia.

“And so he has been ever since?” Winter smiled gently. She could also very much relate to wanting to step in front of a younger sibling to shield them.

“And so Thomás had been ever since.” She chuckled. “So now I have a grandma and a brother and his parents, who became my auntie and uncle. Family doesn’t really have to be blood, don’t you think?”

“I...think there might be some truth in that.” As Winter was contemplating her partner's words she lowered her head.

They didn’t talk much afterwards. Once she had gotten to the more intricate parts of her weapon, maintenance seemed to take up all of Cassie's concentration and Winter was content simply watching her work. It was a comfortable silence.

Cassie also didn’t seem to be particularly bothered by Winter watching her and Winter realized how she never really had the opportunity to simply take a really close look at her partner before.

When she was at peace like this her partner didn’t look nearly as buff as she appeared to be in fights and her loaded blows made her look. Her body still was toned but most of her strength really came down to her aura and her technique. Having said that Cassie was by no means completely slender.

It was especially her simple emerald-colored sweater that accentuated the curve of her chest, firm stomach and stopped nicely above her hips.

Winter had often noticed how nice her figure was and if she had to be honest with herself for a tiny moment she had to admit that it was definitely a body type she felt attracted to. She blushed a little and averted her eyes.

Winter had also quite some time ago noticed how her partner had a relaxing calmness to her whenever it was just the two of them in their room. She would, for the most part, drop her theatrics and they would simply read, study, chat about what to make for dinner or simply relax doing basically nothing at all.  
Especially the last part was something Winter wouldn't have ever imagined herself being able to do. She was not just an heiress, she was the heiress to one of the largest companies in all of Remnant and she was the heiress to a very demanding predecessor, that is if she was to put it mildly. She hadn’t been allowed leisure time, it was something that had been drilled into every fiber of her being ever since she was a child.

With her partner around however Winter felt at peace. She had a patient oval-shaped face and her cream-colored skin emitted a warmth Winter’s paleness lacked.  
And while watching her partner idling around had driven her insane at first, Winter had soon enough started to actually enjoy simply watching her doing nothing, minding her own business. What’s more Cassie had very quickly figured out how to aggravate her enough to stop her in her tracks and _make_ her relax _with her_.

Winter had then also realized how she didn’t have to ‘behave’ in front of her or pretend to be perfect. With her partner around she was allowed to get upset and childishly complain about insignificant things. She was also allowed to take a break to nap or rest. There were no consequences to her sarcastically joking around other than her partner shooting back at her just as sarcastically. And even if she tried to be perfect in front of her she would find ways to pull her of her high horse.

Time had passed quickly and it was evening when Winter’s scroll alarm rang. It was a reminder for her to get ready and leave.

She got up to carefully walk to her suitcase.

“Want me to help you with that? I can fade it all the way down for you.”

Winter shook her head. “No, it’s all right.”

It wasn’t heavy anyway. And so Winter grabbed and lifted her suitcase and turned to walk towards the door. She stopped right in front of it.

Winter was about to turn around to say goodbye when she suddenly felt her partner slightly leaning against her back. Seconds later Winter was wearing what she from the corner of her eyes recognized as her partner's beanie.

“It's cold outside. Take it.” she said.

Winter froze. She didn’t how to react to her partner doing something as simple as worrying about her getting cold on a trip.  
There was however one thing Winter knew for a fact. Ever since she had met Cassie it had been moments like this – moments when she had just casually been considerate of her or concerned for her well-being – that had slowly chipped away at something inside of her.

Something Winter knew was surely about to break open at some point and she turned around to face her partner. Winter saw her partner tense up. And she placed her hands around Cassie's waist. Maybe, maybe is was okay for her to ask her partner to hold her together if she were to break. Would she still be concerned for her or was she going to mock her after all?  
What if she was right now going to call her immature for making such a big fuss about leaving. Like a child that doesn’t want to go home after having spend the day playing outside with friends. Winter hesitated, her hands clung to the fabric of Cassie’s shirt.

What felt like an eternity for Winter passed. Suddenly she felt her partner's hands gently move around her and as she pulled her in for a hug, Winter fully leaned in. The amount of relieve Winter felt was almost overwhelming her and she burrowed her face in her partner's shoulder.

“Take care. See you next week.”

Words that still rang dear in her ears as Winter slowly made her way to the academy's entrance to leave.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter 02 will be Chapter 01 but from Cassie's point of view. Chapter 03 onwards will continue to be narrated from Winter's point of view. :)  
> The entire story will be about the short span of time Winter spend at the manor, with direct appearances of Klein, both Weiss and Whitley and even Ironwood. 
> 
> Having said that, writing has been something that has been keeping me sane during not just the (second) lockdown but also unfortunate unemployment (ﾉಥДಥ)ﾉ︵┻━┻･


	2. Chapter 2

Cassie didn't know much about Winter's home other than that it was a huge manor, she also only ever heard about Winter having younger siblings just earlier. She had never really talked about her family and Cassie wasn't one to push her about it.

One thing she _did_ know about Winter however was that she was trying very hard to keep up a certain image of perfection, coldness and strength.  
And as calm and collected as she truly may look at first glance Winter was surprisingly prone to some quite emotional behavior. Push the right button and she would have immediate emotional outbursts, which she seemed to instantly regret having afterwards.  
Cassie would also often enter or suddenly materialize into their room and find her pacing around in it. Winter would not only abruptly stop, but she would also pretend that she was just on her way to sit on her bed or desk.

All in all Winter seemed adamant about keeping her feelings in check and hidden from everybody else. Cassie wasn't really an expert on these kinds of things, but she knew that repressing and bottling up your emotions like that couldn't possibly be healthy.  
She wished Winter would feel comfortable enough around her to talk to her about how she felt. And to be fair over the past months Winter truly _had_ loosened up towards her a substantial amount already.  
Every so often now she would indulge Cassie in her antics and play along sarcastically. And while she had been pushing her away in the beginning, Cassie would now every so often feel her partner even leaning into her whenever she would put her arms around her.  
Not only that, Winter had gotten so comfortable around her to join her on the occasional naps she would take. And when at first Cassie had thought that she had been the one to instinctively pull Winter closer whenever they would nap together, she had on one day, when she had only been half asleep, noticed that it had been Winter on her own who would snuggle this close to her.  
It had made her heart skip a little.  
But still why would her partner feel the need to be this secret about her fondness for her? Why would she have so much trouble asking her for a few cuddles? Things like that made it sometimes hard for Cassie to gauge the distance between them. Winter would trust her enough to rest beside her and lean into her, but she didn't believe enough in her to simply tell her what she wanted? She sighed.

Cassie herself had been drawn to Winter from day one. While it had been simply curiosity at first, Cassie had very soon discovered that Winter was incredibly enticing to her.  
Not the ‘Ice Queen’ or the ‘Schnee Dust Company Heiress’ part of her, but the part of her that had honestly apologized to her and taken her hand back in the mining cave, the part of her that wanted her help in training and the part of her that would be secretly looking for her warmth. Something that Winter seemed to be desperately longing, but was too afraid to ask for. Was that all there was to this though?

They had undoubtedly developed some kind of fondness for each other. The question was however, what kind of fondness was this? Weren’t they just simply getting closer and more comfortable with each other as part of being partners at combat school and as a result of spending most of their days together? Cassie felt her chest tighten.  
She knew that all she wanted was to be close to her partner. She wanted to be with her, she wanted to support her and she wanted to shower her with love and affection. _Love._ There was the keyword she was so unsure about. What kind of love was the love she had for her partner? A precious friend’s? Family’s? Was she a sister to her? Or something entirely different? How far had she wanted their relationship to go? How far would Winter want their relationship to go? Cassie sighed once more.

She was the first to admit to not being the type of person to think things all the way through. Halfway, maybe? That much at least she could wrap her mind around things however. And for now she felt she might have reached the point where she had to stop thinking about this for a while.

For the most part it also felt like this might simply just not be the time for her to be thinking about their relationship.  
Cassie herself was still unsure about her own feelings and as for Winter, Winter seemed to have quite a few things she desperately wanted to achieve for herself that seemed more important. Cassie could tell as much just by looking at the stubbornness and resolve she had about becoming a Huntress alone.

She had never really questioned Winter's reasons for coming to Atlas Academy, but now that she was thinking about it, Cassie would have thought that an heiress like Winter wouldn't hurt for the jobs, money or the reputation of it. Yet it would be this exact ‘heiress’ part that would have her tense up and that she would get quiet about whenever it was mentioned by someone.  
Still one thing Cassie had noticed about Winter was that even when she didn't necessarily use words, her body language at least would always scream volumes about how she felt.  
Tapping her finger, pacing around, holding her arm, turning her head to the side, crossing her arms in front of her chest, the deep breaths she keeps taking – she made all of these small gestures so vehemently that it made her extremely expressive.

And ever since two days ago Winter’s body language had been...off.

For somebody who was about to go home for the holidays she had appeared to be in a rather somber mood. At first Cassie had thought that it might be because her household would probably have to put on some stuffy party for some investors or something of the sort. And Winter didn't really want to have to deal with all kinds of snobs during that.  
She _was_ the heiress of the Schnee Dust Company after all, even though Cassie genuinely tended to forget about that for the most part. Was it maybe because she hadn't known about who she was before they partnered up? Or was it because they had spent so much time together and she has seen how ferocious she could be in a fight? Every once in a while she wondered.

There was objectively little doubt about the fact that Winter carried herself like an heiress on the outside. That was the image she wanted to have after all.  
And the very nature of her semblance and the fact that she was a top student had even earned her the nickname _The Ice Queen_. To many the nickname also seemed to describe her cold unobtainable demeanor towards most other students.  
When it came to that however Cassie had quickly noticed that Winter just simply had no patience for any pretentious or affected behavior of people who tried to butter her up. It always looked like it triggered something inside of her and she would therefore simply choose to ignore people who tried to talk to her like that. And sadly enough most students seemed to actually approach her with those exact kind of ulterior motives. Other than that Winter had actually been perfectly pleasant to those few students who would approach her on a neutral ground.

Having learned this much about her partner, Cassie couldn't imagine Winter possibly feeling enthusiastic about some company party filled with all kind of pretentious business people, who were trying to suck up to the SDC. Still Winter was probably perfectly used to and capable of dealing with it, right? And that alone wouldn't have explained her quiet mood these past few days.

Cassie had also noticed how Winter had been looking at her a lot more often and whenever she thought that Cassie wouldn't notice. Her initial thought had been that Winter might have felt bad for leaving her alone at the academy and going to see her family. This might have been a little self-centered, but with what little she knew, Cassie couldn't think of any other reason as to why Winter wouldn’t want to leave.

It was also the reason why Cassie had thought that if she would already get started on her weapon maintenance and prove that she was actually going to keep herself busy, Winter wouldn't worry too much about her and go enjoy herself at home. And so she had been well into it when Winter had come back from the library and went to finally close up her suitcase.

Winter wasn’t saying much when she walked to her bed and sat on the edge to watch her work. Cassie had expected her to be a little sarcastic about the chaos she had started to unfold over their room floor, but she wasn’t. Instead she had watched her for a bit first.

“Your back is going to kill you if you stay like that, you know that, right?”

Winter was reprimanding her, but Cassie could still feel some actual worry for her. Still she decided to play it off with a joke.

“Eh, I'll live. It's alright. I'll still be young and beautiful afterwards.”

And while Winter would have usually rolled her eyes at her, she had laughed a little instead. It was strange at first, but thinking about how far they had come, Cassie chuckled.

Sitting across from her, Winter had asked Cassie about her weapon. It almost seemed like she was making an effort to talk to her.  
And judging by the way that she had panicked and started rambling, Cassie could very much tell that Winter didn’t seem to be used to striking up casual conversations like this. And come to think of it, so far it had indeed always been Cassie that would initiate their talks. Still, the fact that her partner was now trying so hard, made her giggle and she patiently waited for Winter to finish what she was trying to say.

In the end Winter wanted to know about why she had chosen a halberd to be her main weapon.

It wasn’t necessarily that Cassie hated talking about it, but it wasn’t something she wanted to share with everybody. Her weapon in honor of her late father was something very personal to her.

Looking into her partner's blue eyes however she could tell that Winter sincerely only wanted to know more about her. She could also see just how nervous she was about asking and Cassie herself became shy at her partner's genuine interest.

And so, while always keeping her hands occupied, Cassie had started to talk.  
She had told Winter about her father, about his battle axe and about her mother and Winter listened attentively. So much so that Cassie could almost see the wheels spinning in her head, whenever she wasn’t replying to what she was saying.

Their conversation also lead to Cassie telling Winter about the fact that she had lost her parents.

She had been barely seven years old the day of the Grimm attack and it still haunted her in her nightmares. But unlike during the first few years after the attack, Cassie no longer felt guilt tearing at her.  
Guilt about not having been able to fight with her parents and about being the only one who survived for, what she thought, was no reason at all and guilt about how she had to been thrown into a building and made to hide by her father. It had taken her a long time to accept that he had only done so to keep her safe while he and her mother were drawing the Grimm away from her and not because she had been in the way and too weak. All of this however she had kept to herself.

Cassie had watched her partner still lower her head when she learned about her parents' death. She looked crestfallen, but then she did something that surprised Cassie a little. In a situation like this, she was being honest.

“I don’t know what to say.”

Most people would resort to empty and cliched words of comfort – words they never really understood the meaning of and words that were, when it came down it, only formalities. At least for Cassie they had never done anything.  
She would have thought that Winter, like others before, would have hit her with at least one of those lines because she couldn't think of something better. But instead she had simply been honest about not knowing how to behave and what to say and Cassie had smiled at her softly.

After assuring Winter that she appreciated her being honest and that she’s fine, her partner still seemed to be a little heartbroken on her behalf and wasn’t looking at her. Not wanting her to feel this way Cassie had decided to make her look at her and get all up in her face.

And that’s how Cassie learned that even her cool and collected partner could get jump-scared and that she was incredibly adorable like that. Winter had thrown her pillow at her in retaliation and she had also been derailed enough to throw some banter at her instead of feeling sad.

Once she had calmed down Winter had looked at Cassie and once more nervous and stumbling over her words, she had offered to be there for her if she needed her support.

Cassie was stunned at first. Had she not already been a good partner to her? It took her a few seconds to understand that Winter might simply be trying to reaffirm this verbally, very much like Cassie had wanted her to do so sometimes and she suddenly became shy about it.

She also had a feeling that Winter might have noticed her having the occasional nightmares and been trying to think of a proper way to bring them up for some time now. It had made her laugh a little and Cassie realized that she herself might still have a few things she should be more honest about with her partner. Maybe from now on she too should count on her partner a little more.  
Winter was trying her best to learn how to communicate better with and learn about her partner. Maybe her next step would be to learn how to try and articulate her own desires and feelings.

Winter had asked her about who she had stayed with after her parents' deaths and Cassie told her about her grandmother, her brother and his parents who had become her adoptive family.

They had also talked about her mother’s relatives and about how her mother had been shunned by them for marrying a Faunus. And while Winter herself didn’t seem to have any issues with that kind of thing Cassie had noticed her eyes getting a little darker when she had talked about how some people are still narrow-minded.  
And while Cassie had absolutely agreed with her, she also couldn’t be completely ignorant to the fact Jacques Schnee, her partner's very father, wasn’t known to be the most diplomatic when in came to Faunus-related issues in general. That was if she was to put it politely for the grace of her partner.

Because his daughter was nothing like what Jacques appeared to be on the news to those who paid attention, Cassie would often actually forget about their relation. Still now that their conversation had been going this way Cassie couldn’t help but to wonder about how Winter’s relationship with her father was. Her wheels had started to spin even more after continuing their conversation and talking about their parents.

Very much like Cassie’s in her own regard, Winter’s looks had for the most part taken after her father’s. She had perked up when she had figured out their similarity, but she had also quickly looked down as she described her own looks. Unlike Cassie who would gladly tell everybody about her strong resemblance to her father, she had felt a little reluctance in Winter.

To try and lighten her mood Cassie joked about how Jacques wasn’t as pretty as Winter herself and her partner had indeed cheered up and laughed a little when she heard about that difference.

They had gotten to talk some more, Cassie had also told her partner about the chip in her ear and the family trees saved on it and she had learned about Winter's younger siblings.

Her sister Weiss had started combat training and the youngest Whitley still was a bit too young to start his training. Unlike earlier when she had spoken about her parents, while talking about her siblings Winter’s expression had been warm. She had chuckled at Cassie's excitement about them and Cassie couldn't wait to be able to meet them someday.

The conversation trailed off and for quite some time Cassie was simply concentrating on her weapon maintenance, while Winter seemed to be content simply watching.

Evening had come, when Winter’s scroll alarm rang.

It had been time for her to go and Winter had taken her small suitcase. Ready to leave she had started walking towards the door. She knew that her partner would only be gone for a week, but was she really only going to take back this little? She wasn't even taking a coat with her and Atlas had been particularly freezing lately. Cassie offered to use her semblance and help her with her suitcase, but Winter had declined.  
After that Cassie had no idea what came over her. She had gotten up and taken the emerald colored beanie she had worn when she and Winter first met, walked up to her and just as Winter was about to turn around again to say goodbye she leaned on her back and she pulled the beanie over her head.

“It's cold outside. Take it.”

Winter had frozen in place silently. Did she go to far? It's true that she had been getting fonder of her, but still she might have gone too far this time. And Winter had already been upset for some other reason and maybe this was the final straw...Cassie's heart sank as she realized how her lack of impulse control might have had her seriously screw up this time...and just when things had been going so well with her partner.

Suddenly Winter turned around and stepped closer her. Cassie was preparing herself for an outburst. Silence. Instead Winter had timidly placed her hands on her waist, all while looking at the ground.  
During the few seconds it took Cassie to realize what Winter had wanted to do she had tightened the grip on her shirt. It had then also dawned on Cassie that this must have been quite a hurdle for her to jump over. So much so that she was readying herself in case she was going to get teased.  
Cassie however very much knew the difference between playful banter and cruelty and she was absolutely not about to punish Winter for opening up like that. In fact she was delighted at how her precious partner had wanted to hug her goodbye. She had gladly put her arms around her, Winter's grip had loosened and as she moved her hands to her back, Cassie could sense her almost melting into her as they snuggled closer together.

“Take care. See you next week.”


	3. Chapter 3

Winter had barely been through the front door when she saw Jacques scurrying around in the main entrance hall shouting orders at the poor put-upon servants. Was he already throwing some kind of event tonight?

She thanked and send away the one who had opened the door for her, only for the poor guy to hurry and run away into one of the hallways before his master caught a glimpse of him.

Out of the corner of her eye Winter saw Klein approaching her.

“Miss Schnee, welcome back.” his smile was warm, even though his voice was urgent.

“Hello, Klein.” Winter had a tired smile. For Klein at least, she could do this much.

“Come, follow me quickly.” She knew that he was immediately trying to get her out of the line of fire. And so Winter quickly turned to follow him.

They had however only taken a few steps in when Winter heard the familiar oppressive bellow she certainly hadn’t been missing while she was at the academy.

“Winter!”

She closed her eyes, took a deep breath and turned around.

“Father.” Winter's expression was rock-hard and cold.

“You’re late. Did all of that 'combat training' make you forget your upbringing? Go to your room and get dressed immediately. The gala will already begin in two hours.”

Winter clenched her jaw. _Hello to you too, Jacques._

“Yes, father.” She had half a mind to sarcastically snap back at him, but Klein was still standing next to her and she didn’t want the kind man to be caught in the middle of their argument.

“And what is that thing on your head? I hope you weren’t walking around dressed in this shabby getup while you were gone.”

Winter was already halfway turned around when she heard her father’s remark about the beanie her partner had given her. She took a deep breath and continued walking in the direction of her room with Klein leading the way.

Once they were at a safe distance, Klein suddenly stopped and turned around to look her for a bit.

Winter looked at him slightly puzzled.

Klein was a short and stocky man and Winter had known him for as long as she could remember. He had also undeniably been the one to raise her and her siblings. When Jacques had never been satisfied and their mother had stopped caring, it had been Klein who had praised Winter and her younger siblings when they had done well on their studies, recitals and lessons and he was also the one to gently scold them whenever they had been naughty. And unlike Jacques, Klein would never get simply furious at them for no reason.

Klein would reprimand them for simple things like staying up past their bedtimes, fighting with each other or sneaking sweets out of the kitchen before dinner time and neither one of them would be devastated in their room afterwards. They would still listen to what he had to say and for the most part never do it again. Mind you, at least whenever Jacques wasn’t around they were still children after all, Winter being the most unruly out of all of them.

And while he had sometimes been strict with them, Klein had also been the one to always console Winter when she was much younger and still crying every time Jacques would snap at her. And Klein was also still trying to console her once she had gotten older and been fuming in her room after arguing and fighting back.

This very Klein was now standing in front of her in one of the hallways and examining her. Winter was puzzled.

“You’ve grown a bit taller, haven't you?” his voice was soft and Winter could even hear a little pride.

She didn’t know what to say. She was baffled and looked at Klein. She opened her mouth, only to close it again and look down to the floor, trying not to get emotional. Winter heard his warm chuckle, she took a short breath and looked back up again.

“Now, come on. Let’s get you to your room so you can sit down for a while.  
Thank the gods, we managed to make him forget about a violin recital, so you can simply rest for a while, there’s no need for you to prepare anything.”

He continued walking and Winter followed.

She was endlessly grateful for Klein and the other servants’ finesse. They knew how to rid themselves of unnecessary work and make a few notes subtly disappear, Winter couldn't blame them and she also didn’t think she had it in her to play the violin right now.

“Have you been eating well at the academy? Did you have something to eat before you came here?  
You know how dreadfully long these parties tend to be and I don’t want you to be attending on an empty stomach.  
And who knows if you’ll get the chance to try some of the food offered.”

“I’m alri- ” Winter stopped mid-sentence.

“Actually, something quick to eat would be nice. Maybe some of your sandwiches? Whenever I tried making some at the academy I could never get them exactly the same.”

She blushed a little, but this was her way of telling him that she had missed him and that she had been taking care of herself.

Winter couldn't see Klein’s face, but he stopped for a step and chuckled.

“You have been cooking for yourself?” she could once more hear pride in his voice.

“I...have, yes. Me and...my partner. Nothing too complicated.” she answered him timidly.

Once more he chuckled. “I see. Then I shall make you some as soon as you're in your room, so you’ll have enough time to eat in peace.  
And maybe I should also make you as list of all the ingredients and how to exactly prepare them by tomorrow?” He chuckled again.

“Thank you, Klein.” And Winter truly was endlessly grateful to have him.


	4. Chapter 4

Winter was looking at her empty plate.

While she hadn’t immediately fallen back into her old habit of wolfing down as little food as possible as quickly as possible just so she could get away faster, she still felt an emptiness in the pit of her stomach.

There had been nothing wrong with the food itself and so she figured that the cause for her dissatisfaction must very much be the company she had lunch with.  
Jacques as per usual had been venting about things Winter couldn’t bother listening to and it’s not like he wanted to have engaging conversations with her anyway after all. The man loved to hear himself talk too much for that.

“Would you like a second serving, Miss Schnee?”

Klein must have noticed her contemplating over her empty plate.

“You are still growing after all.” his voice was warm.

Winter was about to open her mouth to reply, when she was interrupted by Jacques.

“And let’s make sure she doesn’t grow horizontally.” his tone was mocking.

Winter took a breath.

“Thank you, Klein. But I think I’m done. If you’ll excuse me.”

She didn’t wait for a response to get up and leave. The moment the dinning room door closed behind her she started to basically sprint towards her room. She was fuming.

\------------

Winter was in her room pacing.

_One, two, three, four, turn, one, two, three, four, turn, one, two, three, four, turn, one, two, three -_

She heard a knock on her door and stopped abruptly.

“Miss Schnee, may I come in?” It was Klein's voice.

Winter's blood was still boiling, but she decided to try and calm herself enough to sit on her bed.

“Come in.”

She saw Klein enter wheeling in a small cart. A tray with a tea set, two plates of small sandwiches and eclairs were on top of it.

“I took the liberty to prepare a small snack for you, Miss Schnee. I believe lunch earlier wasn't sufficient enough?“ he smiled warmly.

“Lunch was perfectly fine, Klein....”

Klein looked her softly and patiently. Winter knew that he was trying to cheer her up. She sighed.

“But...thank you. I think I might have some in a bit.”

“Very well.” Winter saw him place the snacks on top of her table near the large window.

Winter was looking at the ground still sitting on her bed when he walked towards her, the now empty tray in his hands.

She saw him looking at the nightstand next to her bedside, Cassie's beanie was on top of it.

“I noticed that you have gotten a new accessory while you were away. The colour is quite extraordinary, I believe it suits you well.”

Klein’s smile was cheerful and warm.

“Well, father certainly didn't seem to care much for it.” Winter didn’t care for Jacques’ opinions, but that still didn’t make her any less bitter about having to hear them.

She saw Klein spin the tray and lift it up in front of his face, when he lowered it his eyes had turned red.

“Well, wha’ does that windbag know about fashion anyway? Just look at 'im! 'e doesn't even wear a proper tie around his neck.” His accent had thickened.

“Klein!” Winter put her hand in front of her mouth and she looked at the still open door behind him.

His eyes turned pink and he hid the lower half of his face behind the tray.

“W-Well, I think t-that whoever g-gave you t-this p-present must r-really l-l-like you a l-lot.” a bright blush appeared on his face.

“What? No, it's not like - ” Winter started blushing herself. Just what was he thinking?

“It's...my fri-, I mean, my partner, at the academy, my partner at the academy, gave it to me when I left. It's hers. She's staying at the academy and since it was cold outside she gave it to me. She wouldn’t take no for an answer.”

Why was she stumbling over her words so much? And why did she feel the need to make it look like she wasn’t happy Cassie gave it to her?

Klein whose eyes had turned to their usual light brown laughed gently. He put one of his hands on her head.

“So you found a friend then.”

“Yes…” her hands were clenched on top of her lap and she tensed up.

“Isn't that wonderful, Winter?”

“I guess so.”

Klein chuckled at her timid response. Compared to how she was feeling just moments ago, Winter was now completely calm.

“Now I believe it's time for you to have some tea and sandwiches. Besides, somebody else has already been waiting at the door for quite some time now.”

Winter heard a small yelp as Klein removed his hand from her head and turned to look at her door which he had left open.

A few seconds later Winter could see the small head of her younger sister Weiss slightly poking into her room. She had a guilty look on her face and Winter couldn't help but to laugh a little.

“You can come in, Weiss.”

“You're not mad?”

“No, I'm not. Although I would advice you not to eavesdrop on any more doors in the future.”

Winter could see the small girl's eyes light up. “I- I won't. I promise.”

Winter got up and sat down at the table and Weiss followed. And since it was a rare opportunity for them to be alone, Winter thought she might as well use it to check in on both of her siblings.

“Let's call Whitley as well. He likes eclairs, doesn't he?”

“Whitley doesn't like eclairs anymore.” Weiss said.

“He doesn't? How come? He used to like all kinds of sweet things.”

“He said father told him that only weak boys like sweets and cute things. So he doesn't like them anymore.”

“He told him WHAT?!”

Weiss flinched, Winter didn't mean to be that loud, but she was livid.

“Now, now.” Klein had put his hand on Winter's shoulder.

“Klein…” She calmed herself down.

“I wasn't aware that this was the reason young master Whitley has been refusing his afternoon tea lately. I shall talk to him. The two of you should stay here and enjoy some time together.”

Klein gave her shoulder a small squeeze and turned to leave.

Winter closed her eyes to take a deep breath and completely calm down. She didn’t want to accidentally vent her anger on Weiss.

She then opened her eyes and looked at her younger sister.

“How have you been? You're not giving Klein a hard time, are you? Are you eating your vegetables? How is your practice going?  
Let's eat first and then you can show me your glyphs. There are also quite a few new things that I will show you.”

And indeed she was going to show her all of what she had learned ever since she left, including all of her summoning. She wanted Weiss to see everything a true Schnee, including herself could do.


	5. Chapter 5

Winter dropped on top of her bed. She was in her academy loungewear and she had just locked the door. While it wasn’t like anybody would ever just burst into her room, it still gave her at least some sense of security and more privacy.  
Just in case Jacques ever decided to not just send a servant or one of her siblings for her and march into her room himself to throw one of his fits at her.

Either way it had been late in the evening and she was exhausted.  
Mentally rather than physically, even though she had also been teaching and helping her sister practice in the afternoon.

Winter couldn't understand it.  
This was only the first day after her arrival back at the manor and not once during her entire training and time at the academy had she ever felt this exhausted. And being both at the top and a special program student wasn’t exactly a cakewalk. Had she always been this exhausted here before she went to Atlas Academy? Winter sighed. She was just about to close her eyes for a few seconds when she heard a knock on her door.

She got up and confused Winter started to walk towards her door. Klein wouldn’t disturb her this late, it was already past her siblings' bedtimes and Jacques...he definitely wouldn’t try to politely knock first…

Winter opened the door and her eyes widened in astonishment.

“Mom?”

And indeed her mother Willow was standing in front of her door. Her head was lowered and she had raised it immediately the moment she had noticed Winter opening the door.

A few moments passed in which they were just looking at each other until Willow lowered her head again.

“May I...come in?”

“O-of course.” Winter stepped to the side and allowed her mother to enter her room.

She was wearing a long white nightgown and a thin white robe on top of it. She was in her slippers and she looked like she had already been in her bedroom, a separate one to Jacques’, and ready to turn in for the day.

As she passed her, Winter could smell the alcohol on her. She hated that smell with every fiber of her being and she was only glad that her mother hadn’t actually brought a bottle with her.

Winter closed the door and another few awkward moments passed in which they were just standing in the room until Willow started to walk towards Winter’s bed and sat down on the edge of it.

Winter had followed her mother for a little but she had stopped to stand across from her mother at some distance.

She was holding her arm and looking down and to the side. Why was she here? What did she want from her this late? Or to begin with?

“Won’t...won’t you sit down with me?”

“R-right.”

Winter jolted up and went to quickly grab a chair to sit down across from her mother. Her hands on top of her knees.

Winter looked at her mother who had lowered her head. For some reason her expression was...hurt?  
It took Winter a few seconds to realize that she had maybe wanted her to sit down next to her on the bed. Winter looked down to her hands and her chest tightened a little.  
Why was she trying to be like a mother now? Did she really think Winter was going to cozy up with her on the bed while she was reeking of alcohol? After all of those years in which she had done nothing to console her? And what right did she have to feel hurt now? Winter was trying to concentrate on her hands. She wasn’t going to let this get to her.

“You’re...wearing the academy’s clothes.”

Her mother’s voice was weary and Winter couldn't even remember the times when she sounded any different. Winter propped herself up.

“Yes...I have...gotten used to wearing clothes that are a lot easier to move around in.”

“I see.” She looked to the side. “Do you...like it at the academy?”

Winter was baffled by her question. She looked down for a moment, but then she decided to look directly into her mother’s eyes.

“Yes.”

“Good.” This time her mother’s voice was strangely firm.

But as Winter looked down, not knowing how to react to her mother’s reply, she could hear a soft and short sob. Winter’s chest tightened. Her mother spoke again.

“I wanted to take a look at you. And it has been quite some time since we last spoke. You seem...different after all...”

Winter kept listening silently. She hadn’t seen her mother when she arrived last evening or since, but somehow she figured that Winter seems different?

She knew that her mother was most likely only genuinely trying to have a conversation with her daughter who had been gone for a while. All she was doing however was get under Winter’s skin.

Wasn’t it a little bit too late to try and be an engaging good mother? Winter didn’t want or need any 'cozy mother-and-daughter talks before bedtime’ anymore.  
She had given up on that idea a long time ago. Her mother had stopped tucking her into bed when she had been much younger and Winter didn’t need her to start doing it again now.  
She closed her eyes for a moment, she was _not_ going to get riled up because of this.

“Did you meet someone special at the academy?”

Winter’s eyes snapped open.

“Someone special?” She was confused and therefore narrowed her eyes slightly.

Her mother however seemed to have interpreted this as Winter being angry and suspicious. Once again she looked hurt and lowered her head. But once more she looked up again and she rephrased her question.

“I was wondering if you had made any friends, since there are a lot of students your age around at the academy.”

This time it was Winter who looked down.

Why would she want to know about her friends? Winter wouldn't be lying if she told her mother that she was too busy with her studies to have any and to get her off her back quickly. But she figured that she could at least tell her about her partner. She might just as well.

“I’m usually too busy training or studying. But my partner is almost always with me, so I suppose I spend most of my time with her.”

Her mother didn’t react at first, but then she lowered her head.

“'Her'...a girl? I see…” She looked right back up into her daughter’s eyes.

“Does she treat you well?”

Her mother’s tone was so serious it made Winter tense up immediately.

“S-she has been nothing but supportive and kind to me.”

Baffled by her mother’s sudden earnestness Winter had answered immediately and honestly. But what kind of question had this even been?

“Sometimes...we squabble with each other, but it’s never anything serious.”

For some reason Winter had felt the need to add to what she had said before.

Suddenly her mother’s expression had softened, she rubbed her eye and stood up.

“I shouldn’t keep you up any longer, I’m sure you must be tired.”

Still in her bafflement Winter bolted upright from her chair as her mother started to walk towards the door.

She was waiting by the chair when Willow stopped with her hand on the door handle. She didn’t turn around.

“Winter. Promise me you won’t repeat my mistake.”

She opened the door and left. Winter stood in the middle of her room confused at her mother’s words. What was she talking-…?

That’s when it suddenly dawned on her.

She buried her face in her hands and sat down on the floor. _That’s_ what those questions had been all about.

Her mother had asked her if she had met a significant other at the academy.  
She had thought that her daughter was in a relationship with somebody because Winter seemed to have changed a certain way.  
But was that really the impression she gave off? That of somebody who had found love?  
Come to think of it, didn’t Klein assume something like that, too? But he wasn’t serious about it when his ‘pink’ personality spoke, was he?

What’s more, Winter had been talking about her partner every time. She was sure that her face was bright red right now.  
Could the way she spoke about Cassie also really be mistaken as the way somebody talked about a lover?

Winter stood up again. This was ridiculous. She wasn’t going to get all flustered about this misunderstanding and she didn’t feel the need to go and talk to her mother about it or these kinds of things in general the next morning.  
She wouldn’t even know what state her mother would be in tomorrow morning.

There was one other thing she knew for a fact however...

She was not going to repeat her mother’s mistake. Ever.

That much she had already promised herself a long time ago.


	6. Chapter 6

Winter was walking through the cold hallways of the manor.  
Jacques had locked himself in his office and he was going to be busy on a business call for the next few hours – that was if everything went well. Winter nonetheless was using the time to move around freely, in relative terms, and breathe.

She had been walking for a few minutes when she reached the empty square in the middle of the manor. Well, it would be empty if it wasn’t for that huge gaudy Grimm statue Jacques had placed in the middle of it. The worst part of this was how the statue stood in the middle of a meadow of white and light blue flowers, which Winter knew were her grandparents’ favorites.

And while she was lamenting what could have otherwise been a gorgeous sight, Winter noticed a small figure cowered by the edge of the flower field.  
Carefully she approached what she recognized as her younger brother Whitley who was intently looking at a flower. His eyes were shining and he didn’t even notice Winter until she lowered herself next to him and spoke.

“Aren’t they pretty?” Winter's voice was soft, but the boy still jolted upright to his feet.

“S-sister! I was only inspecting them to make sure they were up to father’s standard. I don’t think anything of them.” 

He was tensed up and he had moved back a few steps. Winter couldn't blame him, she could only guess what Jacques had been telling him about her. He hadn't even once called her by her name ever since she came back.

“I see.”

Still she smiled gently at the boy who was so desperately trying to hide how he had simply been admiring a flower.

“So, tell me, how do you rate them then?”

Winter saw him struggling to find an answer, almost like he didn’t know how to express himself or rather almost like he was scared of speaking about something he liked.

“Do you know want to know what I think? I think they’re really beautiful and pretty. They are grandfather’s and grandmother's favorites.”

“They are?”

Winter noticed her younger brother’s eyes light up and he jumped slightly with excitement. He however immediately tensed up the second he noticed what he had done.

“Yes, they both like these flowers a lot. Grandfather Nicholas even used to take care of them himself. And I’m sure our grandparents would both be very happy if they knew how you like them, too.”

Whitley lowered his head and Winter stood up. “Whitley,...there's nothing wrong with you having preferences.”

Winter was repeating words that she herself was told not too long ago. Words that have helped her continue on the path she had chosen for herself and words that still rang fondly in her ears.

She saw how the small boy however still kept his head low.

“Father doesn’t think so.” his voice was so quiet it was almost a whisper.

“I know, Whitley. Believe me. I know.”

Slowly and carefully she placed her hand on his head and sensed the small boy tensing up. Gently she ruffled through his hair.  
She didn’t know what else she could do for him at this point. She really didn’t.

Here they were. The son who Jacques always wanted but who wasn’t in his likeness and the successor Jacques always wanted who was in his likeness but who still wasn’t a son. Neither one of them had been good enough from the very beginning.

And simply caught in the middle of it all there was...

“W-Winter…”

Winter heard a shy voice calling out for her and looked to the side. Weiss was standing in the hallway, her hands tight in front of her chest.

“Father,...he’s calling for you.”

Winter sighed. So the meeting didn’t go well.

She walked towards her younger sister and placed a hand on her shoulder.

“Stay here with Whitley for a while. Don’t come near father’s office.”

The small girl nodded at her sister’s words and kept her head low.

“Don’t worry. I’ll be fine.”


	7. Chapter 7

Winter entered her room and locked the door. She took off her heels and left them somewhere on the floor. She really didn’t care anymore.

She had just suffered through yet another one of Jacques’ obnoxious dinner parties which he had decided to spontaneously have so he could directly bribe whatever business partner had refused his proposal. As per usual.

Which is also why Winter had to spend yesterday’s entire afternoon and evening practicing some grandiose violin piece he had chosen for the occasion. Jacques was pretentious and so was his taste in music and as a result Winter had always been forced to play music she hated during recitals.

Her only saving grace was the music Klein had always chosen for her during lessons and practice. His music sheets ranged from cute and sweet serenades all the way to mellow lullabies. It was jovially quick or grouchily slow.  
All depending on which personality he had allowed to make the choice that day. This gave Winter the opportunity to not only learn a variety of music, but it also kept her from getting bored and sick of playing. To begin with she wasn’t what people would call ‘a musician at heart’ and all she ever did was simply hit the notes properly.

But since none of the people Jacques ever invited were versed enough to actually notice that kind of thing, Winter could not have cared any less about their opinions – the bad and much less the good ones.  
Jacques on the other hand was all too happy to receive all of the empty compliments about his daughter’s musical skill and the talent all of his children possessed.

Winter had just about run out of patience when the final guest left and she was simply glad at how she had gotten through the agony without summoning her entire pack of Beowolves at those who were supposedly Atlas’ elite members of society.

At the very least she had been thankful for General Ironwood, who had also been invited. Jacques had never liked and always avoided him, since his regulations always interfered with the SDC transports.  
But now that Ironwood was both the head of the Atlesian Military Force _and_ the headmaster of Atlas Academy and therefore held _two_ seats at the council, Jacques was no longer able to simply ignore him. And so, for the sake of his pompous image, Jacques had to bite the bullet and finally invite him.

Winter noticed that unlike the rest of the party members the general seemed to be a lot less self-important. But then again, unlike most of the other guests, he had to actually work for his position, which is why his confidence wasn’t simply a facade and rooted in his own accomplishments.

Ironwood had also been surprised to see her when he had first entered the party hall.

“Miss Schnee, I didn’t know you attended your father’s dinner parties as well.”

“Of course she would. She's my precious daughter and heiress after all.”

As always Winter had felt like almost throwing up at Jacques’ words.  
Mostly at how gleeful his tone was, as if he hadn’t only hours earlier yelled and raged at this ‘precious daughter’ of his because of a business deal _he_ had screwed up and she _wasn’t even present_ at.

Interestingly enough General Ironwood seemed to have picked up on Winter’s misery over the course of the party. At least that’s the impression Winter had started to get when he had more than once “borrowed her from her father, so he could show off his top student”.  
Jacques who hadn’t really been able to cause a scene in front of everybody would let her leave his side to join him.

At first Winter had simply followed him her head lowered and resigned to her fate. It wasn’t like she wasn’t used to just being shown off.  
In the end all Ironwood had done however was take her to the side or the buffet and talk to her about how he had been thinking about advancing her and her partner’s training.

There had already been quite a few missions he had been thinking about sending the two of them to over the past few months, but they had officially mostly been aimed at second-years or higher.  
If they were nonetheless interested he would in the future arrange for them to still be able to go with supervision.  
He had wanted to wait for her return after the holidays to call the two of them to his office to offer them this opportunity, but since he had met her today, he figured he might as well bring up the subject.  
In some way Winter had felt like he was giving her something to look forward to.

Ironwood had also asked her opinion on possible changes she would like for the academy. He rarely got the chance to have simple one-on-one conversations with the students and her opinion on the school’s old ways and its future were valuable information to him. Especially since Winter was also one of the students who entered the academy shortly after he had been made the new headmaster.  
She had been surprised and hesitant at first, but she had also quickly noticed that, unlike somebody else, Ironwood would not only let her speak her mind freely, but he was also attentively listening to what she had to say.

The more often the general had taken her away from his side, the more Winter had expected Jacques to blow up at her in his office once the party was over, instead however he had only curtly send her to her room.

If she didn’t know any better she would have thought that he was scared of Ironwood. What’s more, since he had definitely seen them talking so freely to each other, he was most likely scared of Winter talking to Ironwood about a lot more than just academy-related issues and about Winter exposing him for the fraud that he was.

Either way Ironwood’s interruptions had been making the entire ordeal a bit more bearable and she had been grateful for his presence.

She was dead-tired nonetheless and so, still wearing the dress that had been picked for her, she dropped face down on her bed. Winter closed her eyes and for a few minutes she simply lay in bed unable to move, but still awake. She was waiting for her partner to return to the room just as exhausted and drop on top of her, so they could just cuddle up for a warm nap.

Immediately Winter opened her eyes and jolted up. Just what had she been thinking right now? She wasn’t at the academy and her partner was nowhere even near the manor. Why was she even the first thing that had popped into her mind right now?

She pulled her knees to her chest to rest her head on top of them and groaned. She didn’t want to be alone here. She wanted her to be with her. She missed her. She missed her voice and hearing her laugh. She missed seeing the smug grin, she had whenever she had managed to throw Winter off her game. She missed watching her ears twitch whenever she would hear sounds Winter couldn’t. She missed seeing them perk up and her eyes light up whenever she got excited about something.

All of these thoughts had invaded Winter at once and she started to feel incredibly cold and tense.

She missed the ease her partner put her in and more than anything Winter missed her partner’s touches. Her hands tapping her on the arm, her head resting on her shoulder...just now she had been imagining herself lying in bed next to her, her arm around her waist, getting closer…

Winter suddenly lifted her head and blushed vehemently, she had gotten lost in her thoughts and it almost sounded like she had wanted to…

She shook her head forcefully and got out of bed. She should get out of that dress and into her sleepwear. Sleepwear she had brought back from the academy, so at least at night in her room she would have some sense of comfort wearing her academy's emblem.

Winter carefully zipped open her dress and neatly draped it over one of the armchairs in her room. She never really liked wearing dresses since she didn’t like how much most of them constricted her movement. Objectively however she had to admit that this one in particular seemed to be especially beautiful.

The color was a soft light blue, patterned on the bottom with snow crystals in a faint darker blue. The sleeveless dress was easy on the eyes and the boat neckline had left Winter's shoulders exposed and framed her collarbones with almost transparent white lace just above her chest. The length stopped just above her knees and hemline was wide, lightly wavy and lacy.

Winter also had to admit that compared to many of the other dresses she had to wear in the past, this one hadn’t been _too_ hard to move in and figured that it must be something her mother had chosen for her very recently.  
She sighed. Winter knew that in her own way her mother was doing the best she could. It may not be nearly enough, but it was still her best.

She looked at the dress for a while and decided that she would ask Klein to have it cleaned and packed up in the morning. Since it had been one of her better options she wanted to take it with her to Atlas Academy, just in case she needed something like that at some point. After all the academy was known for having the occasional dance balls during special events, like for example the Vytal festival.

As she was changing, Winter’s mind once more wandered towards her partner. What would _she_ look like in a dress?

Her partner was very much on the same page as Winter herself when it came to dresses and skirts. She didn’t care much for wearing them unless she was forced or required to do so. Or unless it somehow was actually more practical to wear them. One example of that being the Atlas Academy uniform.

In general the combat schools which had uniforms didn’t really force a choice on students. Anyone could really go for any version of it. So if they wanted to they could just as well wear the pants instead of the skirts.  
Most of the girls however would still wear the skirts and tights most of the time, simply because they would keep the pants as a backup for really cold days. Days that would still happen even with the heating grit all over Atlas City and on which a second layer on top of the tights was more than just welcomed.

Winter furrowed her brow and pulled her academy sweater over her head. _But what if...hmmm..._ She couldn't ever image Cassie in a short simple dress.

She dropped back on her bed. A long evening gown however? Now, that. That was more like it.

Winter slipped under the covers. She closed her eyes, put her palm on her forehead and took a deep breath.

A long black evening gown, with a slit on the side above her calf, a simple leafy pattern on the lower half and the hemline laced, all in the same emerald color as her eyes…sleeveless, the neckline would be lower on one side, asymmetrical, accentuating her shoulder, collarbone and neck.  
Her hair in a low ponytail, her bangs combed up on one side, much like she would have them whenever she felt like changing things up a little and ‘matching her partner a little as a pair’...

Winter was convinced that Cassie could easily pull off such a look and be more stunning than any of the other heiresses or rich business-owner daughters she had seen at the parties before.

While she never really had any interest in the boys, Winter would occasionally find herself sneaking looks at the other girls around her age whenever Jacques had been too self-absorbed in whatever story he was telling to pay much attention to her.

When she was a still a young teenager she would occasionally indulge herself in fantasies about casually chatting and sharing dances with one of them. The two of them would at some point sneak out of the party hall to go somewhere quieter and be alone in the gardens or one of the empty hallways further into the mansion…her imagination however never went any further than that.  
She had been sure that the recoil from being pulled back to the reality of things would have otherwise shattered her tender adolescent heart.  
Soon enough however her heart had hardened and Winter had completely stopped thinking about any sort of romance at all.

So why had these longings popped back into her mind now? Was it maybe because she was now finally on her way to independence? Or was it because thinking about her partner had led her to this? _She_ was the one making her think about a future romantic relationship.  
Then again if it wasn’t for Klein and later on her mother, who had somehow implied or assumed that she was already in a relationship with her partner Winter probably never would have even thought about her in that way to begin with...or would she have?

_Maybe..._

Winter snapped her eyes open. She sat up, burrowed her face in her hands and groaned. How did she end up like this?

She definitely needed sleep. Exhaustion stopped her from being rational and she didn’t have the time and energy for those kind of fantasies. Especially not now that she had dragged her precious partner into them.


	8. Chapter 8

Winter sat back on her desk chair and stretched.

She had just finished making and going through a list of things she required.  
It wasn’t much and the list mostly contained additional text books, a few maintenance supplies she needed for her weapon and some new clothes since she had been growing out of her old ones.

Strangely enough Jacques had been leaving her alone today. Maybe her hunch was right after all and her conversations with Ironwood really had scared him.  
Either way she had been both surprised but most of all very suspicious this morning at the breakfast table when he had told her that she could have some free time today, since she had been working so hard ever since she came back. It _was_ a holiday after all.

And while Winter was still glad about having this false peace, she also couldn't possibly relax knowing that Jacques was still in the building. At this point she probably wouldn't even have been able to do so if he had been gone on a trip. Which is why she had decided on keeping herself busy making a list she could go through later on with Klein.

Doing this now also meant that she wouldn't have to do it once she had been back at the academy to order things there. Which also meant that she would have some time to _actually_ relax once she was back there. She looked at the list.

She hated the fact that she had to rely on Jacques’ money for most of these things. But for now she had to simply suck it up. She also figured that she was most likely going to get cut off anyway the moment she finally signs up for the military by the end of her second year. She sighed and tried to find solace in the fact it wasn’t technically _his_ money to begin with.

She closed her eyes for a moment. She had almost expected to feel the strange sensation she always felt whenever her partner was about to appear in the room.  
This was the fourth day now in which she hadn’t seen or spoken to her partner and Winter had noticed how literally all of her senses seemed to be constantly looking for her. Her ears kept listening for her voice and she would instinctively look for her the moment she entered her room. Her only relatively safe haven in the manor. She even kept feeling something similar to the sensation that allowed her to know when her partner was about to appear using her semblance.

Winter reached for her scroll. She hesitated for a moment but then she opened it up and started typing.

 _You know that feel--_ She erased the words. Maybe she should start with a greeting first.

 _Dear Ca--_ She erased everything once more. What was she doing? Writing a letter?

 _Hey,--_ No. Definitely no.

She sighed in frustration. This was her partner she wanted to send a message to, she wouldn't care about formalities. And so Winter started typing once more. This would be so much easier if she could just walk up and talk to her.  
And truth be told she _did_ want to talk to her, but making a call for something like this seemed even more daunting and she also didn’t want to risk being heard by somebody.

She was wondering about that sensation she would always get whenever her partner was about to appear and in the end that’s exactly what the wrote.

Winter pressed send, put her scroll down on her desk and few minutes passed. She suddenly got nervous, it not like they hadn’t send each other messages before. Now that she thought about it however all of their messages had only ever been short notifications for practical reasons. Asking about where they are or checking if the other needed them to pick something up on their way home. They had never really messaged each other to just talk about something.  
Then again they never had the need to do so since they were around each other most of the time and could actually talk to each other. It’s also not like Winter ever had any other friends she could just send casual messages to all the time.

She was just about getting even more nervous when her scroll vibrated. She instantly reached for it. She read her partner's message and replied. And just like that they had started a conversation.

In the end Cassie herself however wasn’t really able to give her a proper explanation, since she couldn’t really relate to the way Winter felt. She had told her however that her grandmother was also able to tell whenever she was about to materialize. In her case she would even know if Cassie had materialized on the floor above her and she would call her down or greet her from downstairs.  
She figured that it might just be about whether or not somebody had gotten attuned to her aura and how much. Combat and aura training also seemed to be a part of it. Her brother for example could sense her about as well as Winter and he had known her for much longer. But still neither one of them was nowhere near her grandmother who she had been living with.

Winter also texted her about Ironwood’s training suggestion, she left out the details of the party, but Cassie seemed absolutely interested and they would talk about that some more once Winter was back.

By the time the two of them had communicated all of this over messages it was about noon. Klein should be calling her for lunch some time soon and Cassie also wanted to go and make some.

“Talk to you soon.” was what Cassie had send her in the end.

That and some kind of stupid looking puppy sticker which had made Winter giggle. And with that she took her list and stood up to go and look for Klein instead of waiting for him. She should just get this out of her way quickly, since she won’t be here for much longer now anyway.


	9. Chapter 9

Her suitcase in hand Winter was standing by the main entrance door, ready to leave. There was still one day left of the holiday, but since Jacques was away for a business meeting she wasn’t forced to attend with him, Winter had decided to use the chance to get back to Atlas Academy without having to go through yet another argument about it.

As expected Jacques' bogus 'good will' had only lasted for a day and he had returned to his usual obnoxious self yesterday.  
Which meant that Winter had to spend the entire day quietly sitting in and watching him on his virtual business meetings and listen to his rants and boasts afterwards.

\-------------

Winter wasn’t even allowed to touch her scroll to distract herself unless she wanted to suffer through an argument she really couldn’t bother having that day.

Luckily enough though Atlas Academy provided its students with small basically invisible earpieces, which wouldn’t get in the way of combat. They were meant to provide them with an easy way of communicating with their instructors during supervised missions and training.

Thanks to her partner’s ingenuity however, Winter knew how to also use it for various other things. And as much as she usually disapproved of Cassie somehow always finding a way to break any system that limited and restricted her, Winter also couldn’t deny how useful her disposition was.  
Her partner also never really did anything that could _strictly speaking_ be considered actually illegal. In fact every once in a while Cassie took regulations and restrictions so incredibly serious, it was almost sarcastic.  
Now that she thought about it however Winter was sure that Cassie probably really was being very sarcastic.

And so Winter had spent the entire day secretly listening to the documentaries she and her partner had been occasionally watching in the evenings together before she had left for the manor, while her scroll was simply in one of her pockets.

There was something incredibly calming about listening to descriptions of giants crabs in Vacuo tearing apart their prey while Jacques was prattling away in the background.  
By the time he was done with all of his meetings, Jacques had been incredibly suspicious of how uncharacteristically unfazed she was. Winter suspected that it had been the reason he didn’t take her along to meet with his business partners today.

\-------------

Klein along with her younger siblings had accompanied Winter to the main hall by the entrance door.

Upright and dutifully, her hands folded in front of her, Weiss was standing there, waiting to send her older sister off. Whitley on the other hand was standing behind Klein, quiet, almost hiding, looking to the side.

Winter had already said goodbye to her mother.

“I see.” was the only quiet and weak response she had received when she had told her mother that she was leaving again.  
Winter’s chest had tightened, but she wasn’t going to suddenly change her mind about going back and at this point she also didn’t think that her mother really thought that she would.

“Do you have everything you need, Miss Schnee? Are you sure you don’t want to take a few more vests and shirts with you? Another coat?”

Klein, kind and caring as he was, had been fussing around her all day.

“I’ll be fine, Klein. I’m not a child anymore.”

“Oh. Of course you’re not. I keep forgetting.” He chuckled.

Winter didn’t really blame him, he was the one who raised her – all three of them, actually – and he had known her since she had been a little girl. She was his fiery little Huntress, finally on her way to actually becoming a real one, like she had always told him that she wanted to. Winter cleared her throat.

“Anyway, the car should be waiting outside already. I should get going.”

Weiss immediately lowered her head and curtsied. “Goodbye, sister.”

Winter opened her mouth to reply, only to close it again. A thought occurred to her and she looked at her sister. She walked up to stand in front of Weiss. Her head was still lowered and Winter saw her tensing up.

Winter put her hand on her younger sister's shoulder and crouched down.

“Weiss, come a little closer.” She jolted up, but Weiss still took a slow small step closer to her.

From the corner of her eyes Winter could see Klein tilting his head slightly and watching her curiously. Whitley had also moved a little to the side to have a better look and no longer hide behind Klein.

Winter lowered her hand to Weiss' arm and moved her other hand around to her younger sister's back. She could feel Weiss tensing up even more as she froze when Winter started to slowly and gently pull her in for a hug.

Winter completely understood her reaction.

Of course, Weiss would be surprised and not know what to do.  
Still Winter wanted to try and show her some affection. She gave Weiss' back a gentle rub and she was just about to let go.  
The simple gesture however seemed to be all the encouragement the small girl needed to fully lean and snuggle close into her older sister. As Weiss carefully put her own arms around her and nuzzled into her, Winter could tell just how much her younger sister truly wanted, even needed, this closeness and affection. They nuzzled their heads together shortly and Winter loosened her hold. She still had her hands on her sister’s arms.

“Take care, Weiss.”

“Y-you, too. W-winter.” Her voice was shy, but her eyes were bright.

Winter let go off Weiss a little and looked to the side to where her younger brother was standing.

“Whitley?”

She extended one of her hands towards him inviting him to join them. He jolted up, but only to hide back behind Klein’s legs. Still, he was at least no longer looking away to the side, but timidly into her eyes instead.

“G-goodbye, sister.”

“Goodbye, Whitley.”

Klein had placed his hand on Whitley’s back and the boy moved to hide his face behind him.

“Stay safe, Winter. And be careful on your way.”

Winter looked at Klein with a weary smile. “I will.”

She opened the door to step outside. She entered the car and as soon as it had left the gates, Winter left out a very deep sigh of relief. She was only glad the driver couldn’t hear or see her behind the thick tainted glass as she took a deep breath and rubbed her hands over her face as days of build-up tension started to slowly leave her.


	10. Chapter 10

Winter used her scroll to unlock the door of the shared room. She couldn’t wait to be back in what had become her only true safe haven. What’s more, she wanted to see _her_.

When she opened the door however and entered she was met with silence.

Was her partner out? She also couldn’t hear the shower. Winter looked at the clock on her scroll. Maybe she was making dinner? Should she look for her in the kitchen? But what if she was already on her way back? Maybe she wasn’t even there. And what if looking for her partner made her look needy? Was she needy? She had to be careful not to seem needy.

Winter stopped. First things first, she took a deep breath and decided to start unpacking what little she had in her suitcase first.

Her swords were on secure magnetic holders on the inside of the lid, Winter clipped them off and placed them in their usual place next to where her partner’s weapon was lying. Whatever Cassie was doing didn’t require much of her time then. She would have never left without her weapon otherwise.

Winter put her hand on top her partner’s weapon. Folded like this she couldn’t really tell if her partner had changed anything significant about the mechanics, but it looked like she had freshened up and polished the paint coating. She didn’t know that Cassie had also wanted to have that done and Winter noticed how she had some subtle white added to the black and silver.  
She blushed a little, but shook her head immediately, she was definitely reading too much into this. Maybe she just wanted a change of pace and white really was the only color that would go well with the other two.

She took out her clothes and walked towards the closet.

Winter was also holding a thin box that contained the light blue dress she had worn a few days ago and some new items she had Klein quick-order for her, like a simple light blue sweater. It was very similar to the one her partner owned only in a different color.  
She was still trying to convince herself that she only wanted one because it looked comfortable. Not to maybe match her partner a little bit. Besides anyone could own sweaters like these, they weren’t anything special.

Remembering her partner’s clothing items, she also placed the beanie Cassie had given her on her partner’s desk once she had put her clothes back into the closet. She was resting her hand on top of it when she started to have a familiar sensation. A sensation she had truly missed. Winter barely had the time to turn around and lean back on the desk, when her partner materialized into their room.

The hoods of her jacket and a hoodie were pulled over her head and it took Cassie a second to notice Winter by her desk.

“Winter?” she was surprised. She took out her scroll and looked at the screen.

“Oh, you really are a day early. For second there I thought I lost complete track of the days and time.”

Cassie laughed timidly and Winter shrank a little.

“Sorry...I...forgot to send a message.”

She had indeed been in such a hurry to leave that she had forgotten to notify her partner about her early arrival.

“Don’t worry about it.” She waved her off and smiled.

“But if I had known you were coming I wouldn’t have gone for some take-out.”

She raised a hand and Winter now noticed the bag she was holding. Her partner’s hand disappeared and reappeared to place the bag on what was Winter’s desk.

“But it’s always quite a big portion, so we can share it if you want to. Or did you have dinner already? We can also still get some snacks or sandwiches afterwards if it’s not enough.”

While she was talking, Cassie had been taking off her ankle boots and jacket. Her ears twitched now that they had their freedom back and her hair was in a messy low bun and she was wearing an academy hoodie underneath and she was in the matching gray and black sweatpants. Winter assumed that she had used her semblance to just quickly get out for some food and back.

“Winter?” Cassie tilted her head in confusion.

Winter who was still leaning on her partner's desk hadn’t said a single word as she was watching her partner and just listening to her chatting away.

She looked down for a moment. She opened her mouth only to close it again without saying a word. It was like she lacked the vocabulary to express the way she felt right now properly.  
She didn’t know what to say and instead she started to walk towards her partner, quick, large steps.

Cassie didn’t have the time to brace herself when Winter put her arms around and basically tackled her. She stumbled a few steps backwards only to hit the edge of the lower bunk and fall down sitting on it.

Winter didn’t care. She followed and with one knee on each of her partner's sides she had remained still above her lap and nuzzled into her neck.  
Scared about how she may have gone to far she hadn’t dared lowering herself completely into her partner's lap.

And while Cassie seemed to have frozen up, Winter was now slightly shaking. Shaking from both the adrenaline and mostly the fear that was slowly creeping into her, because of what she had just done.

A few more seconds passed and Winter felt her partner relax. Cassie put her arms around her and with one hand on Winter's back and the other one on her head she gently pulled her in. Winter lowered herself and clung onto her.

“Rough week?”

A gentle caress on her head. Nothing more.

And yet something inside of Winter cracked open.

There was no other way to describe it. Something inside of her broke and sudden tears started streaming down her face as she pressed it against her partner’s shoulder.

She hadn’t fallen apart like this since she had been a small girl and it almost seemed like all of the tears she had bottled up inside ever since were now streaming out of her all at once.

Here she was now, in her partner's arms sobbing into her shoulder as she started to gently run her hand over her hair trying to soothe her pain.

\-----------------  
\-----------------  
\-----------------  
\-----------------

Winter opened her eyes slowly. She tried to prop herself up, but she felt dazed and she fell right back. Back onto her partner's collarbone. At some point exhaustion must have overcome her and she had fallen asleep.

“Feeling a bit better?” Her partner's voice was soft and Winter nuzzled into her.

“A little...but my head feels like it’s going to explode.”

She had a _massive_ headache. Cassie giggled softly, she shifted her position slightly and placed her palm on Winter’s cheek. Winter closed her eyes into her touch as Cassie gently rubbed her thumb over her eyebrow and temple.

“Will you let me get up so I can get you something to drink? It might help a bit.”

Winter propped herself up, still slightly shaky.

“Yes...thank you, that might be a good idea.”

Suddenly Winter also became a little conscious about how she was not only still sitting on her partner's lap but at some point had even wrapped her legs around her. She stood up carefully.

“I should also freshen up a little and change.” She sniffled.

Her partner got up as well and she gently ruffled through her hair.

“Yes. It’d be a shame if those pretty blues turned red.”

Winter looked to the ground, then she simply nodded, went to the closet to take out her Atlas sweatpants and her new sweater and turned to walk towards the bathroom.

She closed the door behind herself and took a deep breath.

She should be wishing for the ground to open and swallow her up. And she _did_ feel like crap, but astonishingly enough, she also mostly felt calm. Calm and also relieved. She walked towards the sink and she started to run some cool water to wash and soothe her slightly swollen face.

The one thing she had been most scared of these past years had happened – she had broken down in tears – but different to what she had expected she was still well on her way to becoming a Huntress.  
She was still at Atlas Academy, she was still going to join the military and away from the manor.

She also wasn’t panicking about any of her plans being derailed simply because she herself had fallen apart now. In fact the moment she had fallen apart somebody else was there to keep her together.

Winter undid her hair, the headache was still a little too much and she walked back into the room to look at this exact person who had supported her. Not only just moments ago but also over the past several months that she had been on her way to independence and distancing herself from the Schnee name.

Her partner had changed out of her Atlas hoodie and into her simple emerald-colored sweater. Winter lowered her head and her face flushed a little. Come to think of it her hoodie must have been drenched in her tears. She also noticed a few small water bottles on her bed and some snacks.

That’s when Winter remember something.

She looked at the desk where the bag containing her partner's meal had still remained.

“You...didn’t even get to have dinner yet...you must be hungry...and it’s probably cold now too...sorry...”

Cassie chuckled quietly.

“Oh, don’t worry about it. Being delayed for maybe half an hour isn't going to make me starve. And it’s still good cold.”

“But still…”

“Winter. It’s absolutely fine.”

Winter lowered her head. She inhaled, trying to steel herself.

“Then...could you maybe wait for a little longer?”

Her partner only tilted her head at her.

“There’s….a few things I want to tell you about….”

Cassie perked up. “Of course.”

And so they sat back on top of the lower bunk, side by side they leaned back on the inside wall and Winter started talking.

She told her about her parents. About Jacques who had married her mother only because of the family name and the fortune and fame it brought.

Winter told her partner about how he had played the perfect husband and father so well that he had managed to convince everybody to let him take over the company when her grandfather had to retire.  
And she told her about how he had started to show his true colors the moment he had officially taken over the SDC.

Winter had told her about her mother, who had started to slowly fall apart and stop caring as a result. She talked about Jacques’ outbursts, the abuse and the constant pressure and terror.

She told her about how she had been trying to keep her siblings safe and about her younger sister’s birthday on which everything collapsed and Jacques had straight up told their mother that he never had any interest in her and having a family. He only ever wanted the company and an heir she hadn’t even been able to give him ‘properly’.

It had been the final straw and her mother had started to slowly sink herself into alcohol. Winter told her partner about how she had been taking care of her mother in the evenings when she had drunken too much and almost passed out.

And she told her about how she wanted to get away from all of that.

About how she also wanted to set an example for her younger sister and brother. She wanted to show them that they don’t need to rely on the family name to be successful and she wanted them to know that they too could get stronger and break free.

Winter also told her partner about how she was most likely going to be completely cut off and disinherited the moment she announced that she was joining the military.  
She also didn’t know about what will happen to her if any of that happened before she was ready for it. And what would happen to her siblings once she was no longer the heiress.

It was also the first time Winter had directly told her partner about what she was planning on doing with her Huntress license and after finishing school.

For the most part the words kept pouring out of her. Every once in a while however she still had to stop not just find the right words, but to also calm herself.  
Winter had never told anybody about any of this and she was nervous and scared. She had been constantly taking sips of water in between which seemed to help her cool down and restart.

This entire time Winter had been talking Cassie had done nothing but listen attentively and wait patiently for her to finish her sentences.

There was no judgment in her eyes, no disgust, no disappointment, no gloating. More than anything she looked like she had been pondering something the entire time.

Even after Winter had told her about everything and stopped talking it looked like her partner’s wheels were still turning for little until she finally slowly turned to directly look at her.

“I’ve been thinking….”

“About...?” Winter pulled her knees closer to her chest and tensed up.

“You said that you’re scared of what might happen once you’re cut off…that much at least, I think, I should be able to help you with and we could make a financial safety net for.”

Winter was surprised.

“That’s...you’re...you’re not…disappointed? Or think that I must be exaggerating and only doing this to be rebellious or for attention? You don’t think that I’m going to fail and go back anyway?”

Cassie chuckled. “You should have a little more faith in your partner, Winter.”

Winter looked at her knees. She felt her partner leaning onto her shoulder.

“But I get it. Most people would probably react that way and try and talk you out of what you’re doing.”

“You’re okay with me being like this then? And you don’t think I’m...a failure as an heiress? Or a fake?”

“Winter, my own mother left her own family and was disowned because she chose her own happiness. Why would I think of you as a failure?”

Her voice was soft and warm.

“If _you_ don’t think that _your_ happiness lies in being the SDC heiress then I will do everything I can to help you get to where you want to be.”

Winter took a shaky breath. She was on the brink of tears again. Still leaning against her, her partner nudged her a little.

“So, yeah, I’ve been thinking...you know how we already get some money whenever we do small extra missions? No matter how you look at it that money is completely and truly yours. That’s money you yourself earned and it belongs to you.”

“I guess...yes... what are you saying...?”

“I’m thinking you should open your own separate bank account and have the money we earn at the academy transferred there. That way you’ll still have some money to support yourself with just in case your company account gets frozen.  
As a Huntress in training you should be able to do that even if you’re still 17 as long as your ID proves you to be a student of Atlas Academy. You could also at some point transfer what little money you have earned so far to that account.”

Winter sat up a little and looked at her partner in pure astonishment. So this entire time she had only been thinking about ways to support her?

“Don’t look at me like that. I know how to adult.”

Cassie had propped herself up proudly and chucked.

“Me gran’ma used to be a tutor, she taughts me things. Me is smart.”

She stuck her tongue out, winked and gave her a thumbs up.

Winter laughed. “Well, I’m sorry. That stupid face of yours really had me fooled all this time.”

“How dare you, Schnee? Need I remind you that _both of us_ are top students?”

She smiled boldly and reached to the side to put her hand on Winter’s head. Winter grabbed it mid-air and tried to playfully push it away, all the while interlacing their fingers slightly and carefully holding on to it.

They fought for a little bit until Winter gave up and allowed her partner pull her head onto her shoulder and put her arm around her.

“And if worse comes to worse, you’ll always have a place with me, alright?”

“Thank you.”

Winter whispered and hair her was gently ruffled in response.

“But first we’re going to have some dinner now.”

“Right.” Winter took a deep breath.

They were leaning against the wall inside of the bed and Cassie now moved to sit on the pillow side. Winter followed to sit next to her, when Cassie threw the pillow in her face.

“I got you one of the brand new super special ones they have now by the way, so you better appreciate it.”

“Why, thank you. I’m just going to pretend like you didn’t get it for free and they already only had the new models that they were going to hand out soon anyways.”

Winter couldn’t hold back her sarcasm and she hit the pillow against her partner’s face as she moved to sit down next to her.

“Hey, I got you one earlier than everybody else, didn’t I?”

Cassie grinned cheekily and even though she was smiling herself, Winter rolled her eyes at her.

“You just flirted with whatever poor quartermaster was there.”

“How dare you assume that I would simply flirt my way to everything?”

“Are you saying you don’t? You lie.” Winter chuckled.

Cassie smirked.

“Hey, I can’t flirt with guys. And trust me, if the lady had been there that day and I actually had charmed her, I would have gotten the both of us two entire new beds.”

Her partner’s smile was naughty and Winter grabbed her cheek to pull that dumb smirk out of her.

“You’re an idiot.”

“But a charming one.”

She winked at her and Winter cracked up a little. She had also quietly taken note of how her partner only would have flirted with the female officer, not with either one of them.  
While Cassie had never been actually secretive about her sexuality and Winter had always suspected, it was nice to hear her actually being upfront about it like this.

They were sitting next to each other now and Winter pushed a button on the wall inside of her bed. A small table top slid out. Cassie used her semblance to get the take-out bag, she took out the container and a pair of chopsticks. Her arm, shoulder and head faded away and she quickly brought a couple of soft drinks and returned completely with a second pair of chopsticks, she had probably gotten from the kitchen area.

“I heard about this place a few days ago. Toby showed me, you’ve met him a couple of times, remember? They make really good Mistral food.”

“The cat Faunus, right? Do you miss being in Mistral?”

“Yeah, that’s him and hmmm, I wouldn’t necessarily say that I miss Mistral. There are _some_ things I definitely miss. My grandmother, her cooking, my brother,…”

“Wait, your brother comes after the cooking?” Winter laughed a little.

“Do not worry. We have a mutual understanding.”

Her partner tapped herself on the chest.

“There’s nothing more important than Grandma Eleanor’s stew and Aunt Hana’s freshly made pumpkin and meat buns.”

She grinned and Winter giggled. What is it about food and siblings?

She remembered how she and her siblings would always be in the kitchen fighting about Klein’s first fresh crepes when they were very little and Jacques wasn’t around.  
In the end Winter would always win, because she was stronger than both Weiss and Whitley, even whenever they had decided to team up on their big sister.  
Winter would also always get soft on them and end up giving it to the both of them to share afterwards. Telling them they should try harder in the beginning next time.

“Well, I’m glad you guys have your priorities straight.” Winter was teasing.

“I know, right?” her partner chuckled. “Come on, let’s hook up my scroll and eat.”

Cassie handed Winter a pair of chopsticks as her other hand faded away to stick a tiny projector to the wall across them and opened up her scroll to play the documentary where they had last left off together.

\-----------------

They were just done eating and Winter was looking at her partner’s lower body from the waist down. She had one leg hanging off the bed and the other angled up on top so she could still sit next to her.  
Winter had retracted the tabletop back into the wall and her partner was using her semblance to fade her upper body away to the kitchen to put the dishes and empty bottles away.

Winter had seen her split up like this many times during sparring matches or just casually whenever she would just quickly go and grab or take something somewhere.  
Still seeing her do it up close like this and for an extended period of time was indeed strange…although it could have been much stranger if it wasn’t for the black shroud that clouded the edges of the part that was ‘cut off’.

As she was watching her, Winter had a sudden thought. What would happen is she just…?

Winter decided that it was important to know how her partner’s semblance worked and to figure out possible weakness and so she decided to use her index finger and simply poke her side.  
She saw her partner’s lower half flinch, but it didn’t make the rest of her materialize back. So even though her lower body was still reacting normally, disturbing it wasn’t going to make the rest of her automatically reappear.

But what if her lower body only reacted and she wasn’t even feeling it all the way to her upper body? What if the sensation only registered later? Actually if she said anything right now would she hear her?

“Cass? Cassie?” No reaction.

Was she maybe just ignoring her after the poke? Winter decided to push it.

“Cassandra!”

Still no reaction and if she wasn’t going to react to hearing her full name, it meant that she really wasn’t able to hear her.

Winter knew that her partner didn’t like people using her full name. In fact even her student ID only said “Cassie Grey”.

She had never really given it much thought until one day she went to pick up both of their mail and one of the letters addressed to her partner had her full name written on it.

As a joke Winter had handed her the letter saying “For you, Miss Cassandra.”

Winter had never seen her partner flinch that hard before.

“Please don’t call me that.”

Rather than upset or angry however Cassie had simply looked very nostalgic.

“O-okay.”

Still confused Winter had decided to drop the issue, it wasn’t like she planning on suddenly calling her by her full name anyway. Most of the time she barely even called her fully “Cassie” and was shortening even that.

Either way Winter had now concluded that her partner couldn’t hear her. She hesitated for a second.

There were a few words she considered telling her…even though or maybe exactly because she wouldn’t be able to hear her. Words she was finally admitting to, but words she also didn’t want to utter just yet. Not now, not like this. She took a slow breath.

And once more she poked her partner’s side. Once, twice and just as she was about to move in a third time, her partner’s hand appeared to suddenly grab hers. So she really had been feeling everything as it happened all the way.

Winter smiled and she decided to fight to get that last poke in while her partner’s hand was trying to get her away from her waist. They struggled for a few seconds until her partner’s upper body finally completely re-materialized, presumably by choice however.

“Winter! I almost dropped the dishes!”

“I was just trying to figure something out.” Winter answered innocently.

“Yeah, right.” Cassie nudged her shoulder. “And what’s that you figured out then?”

“Well, for once I learned that it would be okay to kick you in the shin when you’re split since you’ll still feel it right away.”

“O-kay, hey, I get what you’re saying but it would _not_ be 'okay' to kick me, you hear me? Winter, it would NOT be 'okay', okay?”

Her partner put her hands on Winter’s shoulders and looked her right in the eyes.

Winter left out a short laugh. “You also can’t hear me, when you’re like this.”

“Well, yeah, I may have four of them, but my ears are on my head after all. Soooo, tell me again why you were poking me?”

Cassie grabbed her cheek and pulled gently. Why indeed? Winter had no real explanation as to why she had started. Maybe she was simply too exhausted after everything. That must be it.

Because right now all she could do was slowly drop her head on her partner’s shoulder.

“Winter? Are you o-” She moved closer and she nuzzled her head into her partner’s neck. “-kay…?”

Winter’s hands clung to her partner’s shirt and she could sense her hesitation. Winter couldn’t blame her.

After all it wasn’t like her to simply cling onto her partner like this and directly ask for affection. Because that’s what she was basically doing, wasn’t she? She was being needy and she wanted to be spoiled, just like a little child. Winter’s face was burning up.

She was about to raise her head again, so she could quickly turn to the side and hide her face, when she felt her partner relax.  
Carefully Cassie shifted her position slightly and moved her arm around Winter’s shoulders.  
She put her hand on Winter’s head and that was all it took for Winter to almost completely melt into her. She put her arms around her partner’s waist and snuggled even closer.

“I-is...is this really alright?”

Winter barely managed to get the question out, in fact she was also basically whispering, but she had to know. She had to make sure she wasn’t just being a nuisance and taking advantage of her partner’s kindness.

Winter felt Cassie’s hand move on her head and she began running her fingers through her hair gently.

“Of course it is.” Her voice was soft.

Winter took a deep breath to relax and while she didn’t want to fall asleep she still closed her eyes to simply enjoy the sensation. She wanted to just stay like this for while.

\-----------------

“Winter?”

Winter stirred slightly in her partner’s arms “Hm?”

“We should probably go to bed. It’s getting pretty late.”

Winter opened her eyes and propped herself up, her arms however remained loosely around Cassie’s waist. She hadn’t been aware of how much time had already past, but their room was a lot darker now. Did she maybe somewhere in between fall asleep again after all?

“Oh, you’re right. It got pretty dark.”

She was looking for her scroll. It was next to her on the bed and she took one of her arms away from her partner’s waist to reach for it and check the time.

Cassie stretched. “I think I’m gonna freshen up a bit and get ready.”

“Okay.”

“Winter?”

“Yes?”

“Will you let go for a bit?”

That’s when Winter noticed how while she was holding her scroll in one hand, her other hand had been clinging to the fabric of her partner’s shirt.

“Oh, right. Sorry.”

She immediately let go and blushed. Although at this point it really was already too late to be embarrassed.

Cassie simply chuckled and got up, she quickly ruffled through Winter’s hair before walking away.

Winter herself got up as well. She fixed her hair which had just been ruffled through. Her headache was gone now and she was feeling much better since her meltdown. She stretched her legs a little to get ready to wash up before going to sleep.

\-----------------

When Winter came back out of the bathroom her partner was in front the mirror and rubbing her fingers over her temples however she immediately stopped when she noticed Winter.

“Something wrong?”

Winter walked up next to her and put her hand on her arm. She was worried.

Was it her fault? Did she go to far after all? Her partner was usually hugging and touching her casually, but maybe there was line that Winter had forced her to cross earlier? She really didn’t know, there was nothing Winter could measure those kind of interactions against.

Cassie must have read her mind a little.

“You’re in your head, Winter. Don’t worry about whatever it is you’re exactly worrying about.”

Cassie stretched and her ears twitched. Winter had seen their twitches many times already, this time however something seemed a bit off.

“Say…” Winter was searching for the right words.

“Yes?”

“...your ears...are they...hurting, maybe?”

“...my ears?”

Cassie looked puzzled first, then she tilted her head to the side.

“How did you…?” Her look turned into a pensive one.

“Usually when you stretch they twitch a bit...differently? I can’t really explain. And then they relax a bit more...to the side?…or maybe you’re just not relaxed, I’m sorry.”

Winter waved her hands apologetically.

“Is there anything bothering you then? We’re partner’s and you’ve always been here for me…and I...I want to do the same for you, so...”

“I see.” Her partner smiled shyly.

“Well, they don’t exactly hurt, but they do feel a bit tense. They always get like this whenever I wear a hat or hood, but I just didn’t want to be bothered when I went to buy dinner earlier. The restaurant owners are nice, but some of the guests....well, nevermind. Honestly though, I’m surprised you even noticed it just by looking…”

She giggled and Winter blushed a little.

”If I wasn’t feeling it I don’t think _I_ would notice myself just by looking at the mirror.”

“Maybe it’s because I’m looking from further away?”

Winter tried to deflect a little. It definitely wasn’t because she had always been watching her partner, especially before she had left.

“Maybe that’s it.” Her partner simply chuckled.

Winter blushed some more and now that she was already knee-deep in she might as well go all the way...

“I-is it okay if I touch them?”

Her partner looked at her curiously. “My ears?”

“Y-yes. If it’s strain would a massage not help?”

“It actually would, I guess…”

Winter saw her partner make an expression she had never seen on her before...She had put her hand in front of her face and she was...blushing? Winter felt her own face getting warmer.

Was she maybe crossing a line? Once again she simply didn’t know. Maybe that was something extremely intimate for Faunus. The one time Winter had ever touched one of her ears before was when Cassie herself had taken her hand to show her the chip.

“Actually, never mind, maybe it’s not something I should be just doing like that. And I also don’t want to accidentally hurt you or anything…”

She looked down and to the side to avoid looking at her partner’s face when she suddenly heard her take a deep breath.

“Winter. Listen...” her voice was soft.

“...you don’t have to be afraid around me whenever you genuinely want something. Especially not if what you want to do is help me with something. I’ve been around you for long enough now to know that you only mean well, no matter how you say it.”

She laughed softly and started to walk up to Winter to put her arms around her. Hearing how candidly Cassie was speaking to her, Winter burrowed her face deep into her shoulder. This wasn’t her partner’s usual playful and whimsical side.

It was a side of her that Winter had already seen bits of when they had first met and spoken to each other. It was the side that had looked at her just as she was standing in front of her – unattached to the heiress, the Schnee.

The side that had offered her a guidance when Winter struggled in the dark and the side that had told her that it was okay to have things she likes.

It was the same side that had wanted her to take care of herself and encouraged her to feel good about herself. It was the side that had taught her patiently during their training and listened carefully to whatever it was Winter had to say and suggest to her.

Cassie swayed them gently from side to side.

“And what’s more, whenever you also just want to hug and cuddle, I’ll hug and cuddle with you. I don’t mind. I want to. Heck, I whine at you all the time, do you really think I’d be upset if you were a bit more needy as well? So stop feeling bad about it every time, okay?”

Cassie ruffled gently through Winter’s hair and Winter couldn’t stop herself from laughing weakly.

“You _are_ quite whiny sometimes.” Her voice was a little coarse.

Cassie laughed out loud and nudged her a little. “Weeeell, I’m sorry.”

Winter nuzzled a little closer into her only to let go of her shortly after.

For a few seconds she stood in front of her partner who was patiently waiting for her to decide on what she wanted to do.

Winter was hesitating, but then she inhaled and took her partner’s hand into her own.

She sat down at the edge of her bed and pulled her partner next to her. Cassie was simply following her lead as Winter slowly raised her hand towards her head and gently lowered it onto her lap.

Winter felt her partner take a deep breath and relax as she started to run her slightly shaking hand over her ears and through her hair.

For a few minutes Winter moved one of her hands gently through her partner’s hair and she drew careful small circles on the base of her partner’s ears and on the inside. Her partner’s ears were soft and delicate. She could feel the tension and she wanted to slowly loosen it.

And while one of her hands was moving carefully the other one rested on her partner’s side and Winter could feel her entire body relaxing, almost melting into her touch.

Suddenly she heard and _felt_ a quiet short rumbling coming from her partner.

Cassie immediately bolted upright, she was bright red and avoided looking at Winter who was simply baffled.

“I...sorry...I’m sure that was weird for you...sorry…I forgot that could happen...it has been a while since I did that, so I kinda forgot…I’m sorry...”

Winter herself blushed a little at her partner getting more and more flustered about something that must be a very sensitive subject for her.

“Don’t...don’t apologize.” She moved closer to her partner who tensed up.

“Is...is it like...I’m sorry if that’s the wrong word, but is it like ‘purring’?”

Winter didn’t want to be insensitive but she also simply lacked a better vocabulary. But she wanted to learn and so she had to ask.

“Well, ‘purring’ would be the word for cats or some feline-based Faunus, but it would be the equivalent, I guess, yes.”

She was looking to the side hugging her arm and still hiding her red face behind her hand.

Winter took that hand into her own and she placed her other hand on her partner’s cheek. She turned her face towards her own and pulled her partner in for a hug.

“It’s embarrassing. I hate it.” Her partner buried her face into her shoulder.

“It’s not.”

Winter gently ruffled through her partner’s hair and rubbed the back of her ears.

“I was surprised at first, but isn’t it a good thing when it happens? Doesn’t that just mean that you’re really relaxed?”

Winter nuzzled her head against her partner’s.

“And I like it. It let’s me know that I’m doing something right.”

“Thank you.” Cassie’s voice was almost a whisper.

“No need.”

Her partner took a deep breath and let go of Winter.

“We...we should go to sleep.”

She stood up and started to climb up to her bunk.

“I’ll get the lights.”

Winter followed suit and likewise got into her own bed.

“Goodnight.”

“Night.”

Winter closed her eyes as the lights went off and even though she was missing her partner’s warmth a little, she quickly fell into a comfortable deep sleep.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Classes were about to begin in ten minutes.

With Winter resting and sleeping for the most part and Cassie reading or napping with her, the last day of the holidays flew by quickly and the two of them had now overslept and were still in their room getting ready.

As far as Winter was concerned they might as well be considered late at this point. Her arms were crossed in front of her chest, she was tapping her finger on her upper arm and waiting for her partner who had only just finished putting her uniform on.

“Fix your tie.” Winter was already annoyed at how her partner had tied her hair into a quick messy low bun, because she couldn’t be bothered tying it up to her usual ponytail.

“It’s alright, nobody really cares anyway.”

“I do.” She walked up to her partner and roughly reached for her tie to fix it herself.

Cassie groaned. “...you were so much cuter over the weekend…”

“...and you were a lot gentler…” was Winter’s quiet retort.

“W-what’s that?”

“Nothing.”

Winter knew that she had heard her perfectly well, despite of how she had basically whispered her response and she wasn’t going to repeat herself.

“Come on, let’s go.”

She grabbed her partner’s wrist and started dragging her towards the door.

Cassie clicked her tongue and moved in quicker to put her hand around her waist.

“I’ll just take us there.”

Winter sighed. She let go of her partner’s hand to step next to her and put her hand on her shoulder.

“Fine. But we’re not going to keep using your semblance to get to classes in the mornings from now on.”

“Yeah, yeah.” Her partner’s response was dismissive...

“Cass.” ...and Winter play-hit her side.

“Yes, ma’am.”

As Cassie rolled her eyes at her, Winter nudged her shoulder.

“Ready to go?” Her partner tightened her hold around her waist a little.

“Ready.”

And maybe more to herself than to her partner Winter nodded as she was about to resume on the path she had chosen for herself.

Now knowing for sure that she had somebody who would build her back up if she were to ever fall apart again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you're hankering for a bit more of this story arc:  
> Part 13 of the Series - Apart: C-Side runs parallel to the Apart Story Arc and narrates a day of Cassie Grey's holiday while Winter was at the manor :)


End file.
